MLS is back…
Posted by on 16th August , 2011So I’d started dreaming about NZM018 again. Dreams, for me, are usually a sign something that is really taxing myself mentally.
Saturday just gone, I woke up at about 6am and was already mentally prepared and decided that I was removing the head today. Obviously I’d woken up mid dream sequence, because this was certainly not the plan I had for my weekend nor any upcoming weekend.
Removal went well and revealed some glaring issues with the build and also the reason behind the gasket failures. I also noticed that all of the power steering adjustment had been removed and never put back on – more top work!
There was varying torque across the stud kit and at best only kind of hard to undo. Some of the nuts on the studs seemed to be turning for an eternity. I was worried that the thread was stripped… it was but not like I thought.
Most of the studs removed themselves from the block while trying to remove the nut from the stud. This is because the thread on the studs was so damaged, the nuts were cross threading on the way off the stud. Once they were all removed and closer inspected, everything started to make sense.
During the original tear down of the motor by the builder, they complained that the studs we difficult to remove suggesting that I had used loctite when inserting them into the block. I assured them it was not the case, which it indeed wasn’t, and that I’d simply installed to specs.
Anyway, turns out the builder has used a stud remover and gripped on the thread to remove them completely destroying each stud in the process. Now they would have known this on removal and at very very worst on re-assembly. This has caused the nuts to reach the messed up thread during re-torquing and torqued itself on the stud instead of the head. This in turn has let the head lift and mls head gasket leak.
They would have known this when it went in for repair and why they’ve gone for a cheap gasket as suspected, to simply save costs.
I looked around online and managed to locate a Cometic MLS gasket and also an RB25 stud kit from people on forums – both Southside of course. To be honest I really didn’t expect to find suitable parts, yet alone on a Saturday and available for pick up same day + be local. On the upside the gear saved about $250 over street retail prices. On the downside I spent money; luckily Jess is so supportive of me and my love of NZM018.
I’d had a few celebration rumbos by this point so Dad offered to cart me around for the afternoon while I picked up overnight parts from Southside.
Car is now running better than ever making truckloads of power. Tune is planned for early next year but for now just glad to have the car running properly.