ENGINE BAY (86 Turbo)
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I can hardly believe this car has 210,000 miles on it. The engine bay was pretty clean to begin with, although a few things needed to be addressed on first site. The throttle cable sheathing was torn up pretty badly. The cruise cable looked to have just been replaced. Several harness connectors needed to be addressed: air regulator, idle valve, fuel temperature sensor, and the crap splicing job Nissan did on the new injector harness.

Here is a list of parts I replaced (mostly with OEM):

  • Hood Bump Stops
  • Hood Safety Latch
  • Several Underhood Fasteners
    (w/stainless bolt kit)
  • Throttle Cable
  • Battery Cables (Ground and Positive)
  • Relay Cover Sticker
  • Oil Change Sticker
  • Driver Side Cam Cover Emission Hose
  • Air Regulator Hose
  • Air Regulator Harness Connector
  • OEM Hood Switch (security)
  • Several Wire Loom Sections
  • Vacuum Lines (Silicone Replacements)
  • Several Harness Zip Ties
  • New Battery
  • OEM Battery Tie Down
  • Headlight Seals/Flaps (Victoria British)
  • Magnecor Plug Wires (had from Last Z)
  • Plug Wire Looms (cheap from Checker)
  • Throttle Body Silicone Coupler w/T-Bolt Clamps
  • Radiator Cap
  • Washer Fluid Lines
  • Washer Fluid Pumps (Planned)
  • Hood Insulator Pad (Planned, but expensive)

The windshield and coolant reservoirs were pulled and cleaned up. I pulled the turbo-TB pipe, prepped it, and painted it. Then I replaced all the vacuum lines with colored silicone replacement hose.

I took a few hours to clean up grease, oil, and dirt from the bay. I used a cheap weed killer spray bottle (the type you pressurize with a manual pump), filled it up with HOT water and about 1/20th Simple Green and just sprayed all the engine bay walls down (repeatedly). With a toothbrush I went over anything I could get to easily. I also used a worn, mild scotch pad and Simple Green solution to polish up some metal pieces (a/c pulley, collector cover, ps fluid reservoir, egr, aiv).

I had the car jacked up with the splash shield removed, so I got a bunch of stuff underneath, too, like the frame rails, engine crossmember, and accessories. I didn't do a complete, perfect job, but it made a huge difference. I spent about 2 hours doing that. I'm not sure where any oil came from in the first place. The previous owner did the timing belt and had some seals replaced, so he must've had leaky cam/front seal. Everything inside the bay has original paint!

I installed a nice stainless bolt kit (from TSS). I had the car "down" for two months while replacing several little things. Car runs just fine, but I wanted to get it a bit closer to perfect.