kenny90 Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Hi All, hope everyone is doing ok in these weird times. Its a long story but ill try and give a brief a history of the car. I've owned a kuro black gt4 since may 2015, it was my pride and joy and i loved it, for 3 months. In august 2015 the bottom end bearing went, the day after id used the car for my best friends wedding. It then went a way for a rebuild, to a company that claimed to have experience, the start of what seemed like a never ending nightmare. The company, after 4 months and numerous arguments over the phone, claimed to have rebuilt the engine, but the car wouldn't start so they sent it away to 3 autoelectrical companies, who all said it wasn't electrical, but more than likely the engine incorrectly built, so they took the car back and tried to fix it after having the car around 18 months i finally lost patience, agreed a fee for the works and got the car back. In the mean time a local engine builder id got talking to through a mutual friend was adamant he could sort it as hes rebuilt top end engines for years, so the car then went to him. He straight away found the flywheel on wrong apparently, the timing was incorrect, the oil ports were full of sealant, a whole bunch of stuff really so much, and so long ago i cant remember exactly. So he set about trying to get the car running. I got weekly updates of what hed found to start with, but after about 4 months it was like pulling teeth. He had the car just over a year in total suspecting all sorts of faults, giving it back to me with the car now running but misfiring. By luck, i found a company, outlaw customs, local to me that specialised in older z cars, and race engines.(i was walking to my van after having my hair cut when i saw their van drive passed), So i gave them a call, they collected the car, stripped the engine down and within 2 days of my call told me that the engine was a total mess, and beyond repair, it had been rebuilt horrendously. I sourced a replacement with a warranty and the engine was delivered and fitted by outlaw, within a week. The nightmare didn't end there though, the car was smoking horrendously, misfiring, and filling one cylinder with oil. I got in touch with the supplier as they offered a warranty, they collected the car and promised if it was the engine that was the issue, to sort it without charge. So many months went by, the engine was stripped down and rebuilt, once by the suppliers engineer, and once by some outside firm they got in, and still the car wast running right. The ecu was replaced, and then the immobilizer and the ignition barrel before i got the call around 3 months ago saying the car was ready for its MOT and then i could collect it I went down to collect the car, it started and idled OK, but itd been that long since id had the car i couldn't really remember what it was like originally. The washers didn't work, the drivers window didn't work and due to the ecu swap, the stereo didn't work, and i now have one key to unlock the car and one to start it. On the drive home the engine light came on, the car was misfiring intermittently and was rough as a dog. It had sat on the drive in this state until the start of lockdown when i decided to try and sort it myself. I found the passenger side cat was buggered, so i got some axle stands and decided to replace both cats with japspeed sports cats, as i've already spent upwards of 8k getting the car back im now on a budget. The resonance was terrible so replaced the full system with a japspeed K4 again, budget made the decision. I also replaced the window motor, the washer pumps and the radiator fans, which i replaced with mishimoto. The car ran better but still misfiring. I removed and cleaned the maf, and found the connector on one of the Coil packs broken, meaning it wasn't latching correctly. I replaced this and as of typing this post, the engine runs absolutely sweet now and the car sounds absolutely superb. I've also replaced the defunct head unit with a pioneer unit, following a guide on here. Everyone thinks im mad for spending so much, and having so much determination to get the car back, ive had 4 cars in the time this has been off the road, but for me, it was all worth it. So much id do differently in hindsight but thats by the by now. Everything i've done to get the car running, is directly down to me reading stuff from this forum, so i just really want to say a massive thanks, and sorry for the long post. The car now needs a really good detail and some body work, it was mint when it went away 5 years ago but now there are scratches, dents and scuffed alloys, but im so looking forward to finally being able to enjoy the car again. Ill include a pic of the car before the wedding 5 years ago and some progress pics i've taken recently. i'll get some advice on detailing, order some stuff and take some updated pics soon hopefully, If you've read this, cheers, Kenny 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zelda Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Wow, what a story. Massive kudos for percerveering with it. I had a similar story with an MR2 I owned. Everything was going wrong with it and as you said, people thought I was mad investing so much energy and money in it. When it's all back together it's so worth it. Look forward to reading more of your journey! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikey_S Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Glad to see it's back on track! Sounds like a right nightmare. Hopefully you can get it it to a point its a joy to drive again! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKEYSOCKS Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 Nightmare! You've got more patience than most! I love my gt4, but if all that happened I'd break. Well done for hanging in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 49 minutes ago, zelda said: Wow, what a story. Massive kudos for percerveering with it. I had a similar story with an MR2 I owned. Everything was going wrong with it and as you said, people thought I was mad investing so much energy and money in it. When it's all back together it's so worth it. Look forward to reading more of your journey! Thanks, it's been a real slog but the moment I started the car last weekend, and heard no misfire or no lumpy idle was a huge moment. And then when I took it for a spin, I was grinning from ear to ear, the car was back and I felt on top of the world! 34 minutes ago, Mikey_S said: Glad to see it's back on track! Sounds like a right nightmare. Hopefully you can get it it to a point its a joy to drive again! Thanks, I'm weirdly looking forward to the detailing side of it now haha Just now, MONKEYSOCKS said: Nightmare! You've got more patience than most! I love my gt4, but if all that happened I'd break. Well done for hanging in. Thanks! Numerous times I was very very close to scrapping it, but luckily I was in a position where I have a company vehicle, and had another car for personal use too. In the end, I'd come so far I just didnt see the point in giving up. It was made even better by it being myself that actually got it running sweet again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samoht Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Wow, what a story! That's really bad luck to have a bearing go, and then the endless saga of trusting people who say they can help, but actually can't. Nice work getting the car running properly finally. You know what they say, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself. Anyone who needs engine work near Doncaster should drop you a line to find out who not to call, I think ;-) Hope everything goes smoothly with the car in future. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy_Muxlow Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Hi and welcome along buddy. That's a right labour of love there. Great to see you are getting all sorted out properly now. Car looks nice though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHashiri Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 Good work! It's nice to hear it worked out in the end. May i ask, what kind of state it was in for the rod bearing to go? What was the history like? I know it's pot luck on these things. Having owned an RX8 previously, I was always paranoid of the engine blowing but it actually seems like more of a mare with the Z. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 20 hours ago, Samoht said: Wow, what a story! That's really bad luck to have a bearing go, and then the endless saga of trusting people who say they can help, but actually can't. Nice work getting the car running properly finally. You know what they say, if you want a job done properly, do it yourself. Anyone who needs engine work near Doncaster should drop you a line to find out who not to call, I think ;-) Hope everything goes smoothly with the car in future. Thanks, it's been a long old nightmare but the cars back on the road and I feel pretty good about it! Yeah I'll definitely be the one to advise on who to avoid! 20 hours ago, Andy_Muxlow said: Hi and welcome along buddy. That's a right labour of love there. Great to see you are getting all sorted out properly now. Car looks nice though. Thanks for that, I'm looking forward to getting the car back to mint condition now and enjoying it like I should have been doing for 5 years! 2 hours ago, GoHashiri said: Good work! It's nice to hear it worked out in the end. May i ask, what kind of state it was in for the rod bearing to go? What was the history like? I know it's pot luck on these things. Having owned an RX8 previously, I was always paranoid of the engine blowing but it actually seems like more of a mare with the Z. Thank you, To be honest, I looked at about 5 or 6 z's before buying this one, all similar age, mileage. All full service history and mint condition. This car stood out as being just a little bit more mint than the others, The guy I bought it from was clued up, only ran it on 98 octane fuel, checked the oil regularly as it's the revup and liable to burning oil an I carried on this practice. I guess I was just unlucky which sucks but that's life haha 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEADPHONES Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I know 2 members who had countless problems with having their engines rebuilt. Both finally accepted defeat and said goodbye to zed ownership. So nice to hear a happy ending for once. Looking forward to more posts of good progress with your zed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted May 6, 2020 Author Share Posted May 6, 2020 18 minutes ago, HEADPHONES said: I know 2 members who had countless problems with having their engines rebuilt. Both finally accepted defeat and said goodbye to zed ownership. So nice to hear a happy ending for once. Looking forward to more posts of good progress with your zed I was close a few times to be honest. When I got it back, I was pessimistic. But to me, doing what I do for a living, everything is fixable somehow Haha. So I just kept hanging on in there! I suppose I was lucky that I didnt need the car so I could just leave it with a company and it was sort of out of sight out of mind, just when they got in touch with a bill and a still bust car that got me down. But the feeling when I started it the other week after replacing the the exhaust and the coil pack was unreal. I've since changed the intake and exhaust cam sensors on bank 1 too. It's all sweet now I'm going to spend some time and effort getting the rest of it 100% spot on now for sure, so hopefully I'll have plenty of updates In the near future. Ordered a tonne of cleaning and detailing stuff too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHashiri Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 I hope it serves you well for years to come. Did you ever get any detail on what the first mechanics screwed up? Perhaps it would be good knowledge for others here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted May 7, 2020 Author Share Posted May 7, 2020 15 hours ago, GoHashiri said: I hope it serves you well for years to come. Did you ever get any detail on what the first mechanics screwed up? Perhaps it would be good knowledge for others here. Thanks. Theres the issue, it wasnt untill the 3rd company got involved and stripped it down that the engine was condemned. By then the car had been off the road 3 years. They found the crankshaft was bent, the rod was bent and the block was warped, amongst other things. They suspected it was initially down to the crankshaft having too much ground off it, and then the various attempts to get it running, and it being driven by the 2nd guy, despite a slight knocking and misfiring, to my house, instead of him getting it transported. So I'm not really sure of exactly what the first chap did wrong. If I'd gone straight from the 1st chap, to the 3rd, I'd know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoHashiri Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 It's an awful experience for sure. I had a mate in Japan get royally screwed on his RB26 build, it wasn't identical to this but it was of a similar nature; the company sold the aftermarket parts he gave them and reused worn old parts - it never worked in the end. He's now building an SR20 instead. A very costly experience. Well anyhow, I'm glad it has all worked out for you in the end! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justthejedi Posted May 8, 2020 Share Posted May 8, 2020 What a nightmare for you! these co called "professionals!" that turn out to be cowboys. Hat off to you sir for sticking with it though. Hope you get many miles of enjoyment out of her, you deserve it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted May 9, 2020 Author Share Posted May 9, 2020 On 08/05/2020 at 14:58, Justthejedi said: What a nightmare for you! these co called "professionals!" that turn out to be cowboys. Hat off to you sir for sticking with it though. Hope you get many miles of enjoyment out of her, you deserve it! Thanks man, I appreciate that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 I'm new to the site and after reading your story, I'm filled with both admiration( for your tenacity) and dread. I have just got a 350 with high mileage that had supposed to have had a full engine rebuild, 1000 miles ago.Many receipts for parts. And has started smoking badly after getting it home. None when I viewed?? What to do and where to put it is now even more worrying after your story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenny90 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 9 hours ago, Fatman said: I'm new to the site and after reading your story, I'm filled with both admiration( for your tenacity) and dread. I have just got a 350 with high mileage that had supposed to have had a full engine rebuild, 1000 miles ago.Many receipts for parts. And has started smoking badly after getting it home. None when I viewed?? What to do and where to put it is now even more worrying after your story. Sorry to hear that, are you having any engine lights, Misfire, loss of power etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fatman Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 No lights,misfire, engine sounds sweet, seems to go well, though very new to me. Taking to someone to have a look at and hopefully diagnose a solution. So I am grateful to this forum to get me to this point very quickly, and I hope for a positive outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davey_83 Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Ello n welkom Stick around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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