To succeed and fail at the same time....

With only two weeks left till HIN Dan and I have been working like crazy. Focusing soley on preparing the red s14 for the 2012 Hot Import Night / Xtreme Drift Circuit (HIN/ XDC) event taken place April 14th, last Saturday. There were a number of items on the to-do list such as; install brakes and lines, bleed brakes, bleed clutch, add lights, swap steering column, build turbo manifold, down pipe, exhaust, add all fluids, add wheels, complete alignment, and most importantly to get the car running. We all know the little things are very time consuming.

With time running out fast approaching the week of HIN/XDC the car still is not running so whatever issues are to come who knows how extensive or how long it will take to work out the bugs. We haven't gotten that far!!!

Mind you this car has never ran in my possession. Bought the 1995 240sx 4 years prior from a good friend of mine. Quickly had the cage installed and the car had sat since. Not by my choice of course, let's just say lesson learned.

- There is no such thing as "trade work" the only trade work that is trading cash for labor. DO NOT I repeat DO NOT attempt to "trade work" as you will likely have to wait an extended period of time to "cash in" on your end of the deal just as I did, no bueno.

Back on track, two weeks prior to the event fabrication is underway; turbo manifold, down pipe, dump tubes, exhaust, etc. Now we are at April 7th the weekend prior to the event. One major part of the to-do list is complete, however we all know it's the little things add up.

Saturday I felt the urge to barbecue, there I go to Fry's to purchase food. All of a sudden at check out I no longer desire spending my evening barbecuing as it is getting late.

Saved the food for Sunday and started grilling about 6pm. Shortly there after as if he knew exactly when to drop by, I received a text stating "I'm going to come over," fairly excited it's the wiring guru to assist with the car.

First thing first it's time to eat!..... afterward we begin diagnosis on the car. Chasing grounds, loss of power while cranking, timing is off, etc.... At this point nothing else can go wrong.

The Sun had set and the moon was out, time had flown by. Next thing you know the time reads 2am and we are still working on the car. Usually I wake for work at 6am for work, however the opportunity to get the car running is right in front of me, everyone knows the wiring guru rarely ever comes around. In fact, the last time he had been to my house was 4 years prior.... I'm feeling sick already :) that is what corporate sick time is for right :) 

Anyway I'm ready set to go! keep bustin out this work just to hear the car turn over....

We worked through the night minus the quick 4 hour nap. We're back up and at it in the morning. The neighbor kids are walking to school while were attempting to turn this motor over.

Finally all signs point to go but the car still isnt cranking over. We agreed to get new gas since the gas tank installed had been sitting for exactly one year.

- 5 gallons of new 91 octane gasoline and BAM car fires on first turn.

At least now we know the motor runs as it had been sitting for at least two years at this point.

It's now 12 noon when we got the car running, perfect time to head off to work. So we call it a day and off to work I head.

Now its Monday April 9th the week of the event and its was crank time. We now know the car runs while on jack stands, but does it drive???

During the day time Dan was able to tie up all the lose ends which brings us to Wednesday test and tune.

Brakes are bled, clutch is bled, all fluids are in the motor and accessories. Oil leak caused by a lose fitting has been fixed, minor power steering pump leak has been fixed with a new o-ring.

In attempt to put the car in drive or engage the clutch pedal and shift in to gear...NOTHING, the transmission would not shift into gear. Now if the tranny were a traditional SR I would know the exact issue, however this car has the 350z six speed tranny attached. Understanding the mechanics of the transmission and potential issues the only option at this point is to pull the transmission...

9:37pm Wednesday evening we begin pulling the transmission, after having to take a break and run to Wal-Mart to grad an oil drain bucket for the transmission fluid, the tranny is out at 10:20pm. 


From there we drive down to Suspicious Garage to replace the throwout bearing assuming that is the reason why the clutch is not engaging and we are blowing brand new 350z slave cylinders. 


Well that was not it as you may have assumed, after taking the transmission out while laying on our backs on the floor and then having to re-install the transmission from our backs on the floor, it was upsetting to know the problem was not fixed. Still the slave cylinder would fully extend before the throw-out bearing would force the pressure plate to fully engage. 


The fix came from fabricating the slave cylinder pin, extending the pin 3/4 of an inch. With the new slave installed along with the fabricated pin I received a call at work; we're in business.

 Test fit new wheels

Transmission trouble

With only one day left before the event we managed to get the car to the wheel alignment at llantera Llamas (623) 882-9900. New rims and tires mounted and balanced, new suspension adjusted, alignment complete. 


After spending the majority of the afternoon hanging out with friends at the tire shop we drove clear to the other side of town to attempt a street tune. Unfortunately minor software issues did not allow a street tune at this time, but hopefully soon. 

updated old suspension parts on the alignment rack

 Prepped and ready to go

We made it to Hot Import Nights...

Made it to the event successfully; awesome day, networking and hanging out with friends!

TEAM TOP FLIGHT AZ reppin Boost Junkyz products!

To succeed and fail at the same time.... If it's not one thing its another...... but that's the name of the game.... the enthusiast excepts the challenge and continues to do what we love to do!