SLC: 1989 Zinno coupe. Superlight, Super Functional *6spd swap inside*

[mitchlikesbikes]

it was finally above 60 degrees today so i busted out the work lights and space heater and painted my bare metal in the bay and on the core support. i probably would have been better off waiting for it to be a little warmer but this is far from a show car so this will do for now. it is ppg epoxy primer followed up with single stage zinnoberrot paint. i used cartridge style spray cans i had left over from a different project to spray the paint. i wish i had the time and motivation to pull everything out of the bay and do a proper respray but i'll get there eventually. it still definitely beats a black spraybomb bay like most people do when they swap. i will probably add some rubberized undercoating to the trans tunnel and the bottom of the frame rails as well. anyway, here are some photos...

[mitchlikesbikes]

installed the valve cover and oil filter cap tonight. got a nice look at the cams and what not while installing the valve cover, and everything looks awesome. my friend who picked this engine as a donor seems to have made the right choice.

[mitchlikesbikes]

today i took my prepped valve cover and oil filter cap to work so i could paint it in the warm shop. the last time i painted a valve cover with vht wrinkle paint i cured it in the oven but it made my house smell horrendous for like 3 days so i decided to cure it with a heat gun manually instead. i liked the heat gun method because it gave me pretty good control over the curing and wrinkle finish but it would have been much easier to just stuff it in an oven for an hour instead. anyway, here are some pics. i'm really pleased with how it came out. the vht wrinkle paint covered the imperfections in the magnesium casting pretty well.







i'm hoping that it will be warm enough this weekend that i can get my bay touch up paint done and finally start assembling stuff.

[mitchlikesbikes]

got my new welder set up yesterday. i have no idea what i'm doing but excited to learn. it will be a slow process though.

been working on small stuff on the car. i fitted some of the pcv hoses and am just working on general finishing work on the engine. will post some pics tomorrow probably.

don't mind the leads being backward. like i said, no idea what i'm doing haha

[mitchlikesbikes]

The studs on the differential cover is a great idea. I hated installing a new gasket on mine because of this annoying ass bolts.

It was still a pain in the ass to get it situated back in the car but it was definitely easier than it was with the bolts. For $10 worth of hardware I'll take it



little more progress. i decided i would strip my extra valve cover and paint it wrinkle black because the more i look at it the more i can't stand the ugly yellow/silver stock color. i got lucky and it turns out someone had already blasted and painted or powdered the cover poorly so it stripped right down to bare metal. paint stripper is scary but also really badass. i am hoping it's warm enough to paint it sometime in the next week or so.







i also picked up all of my parts from utah powder werks. i even liked the color so much i dropped my strut bar to have it done as well. the plan will be all of this plus the strut bar in this color, then a wrinkle black valve cover and oil filter cap. should look pretty good when its all done. my bay itself will still be ugly for now but it's not crucial.



i also picked up an AHP AC/DC tig welder today for a killer deal so i'm preparing to jump into that rabbit hole. excited to start tig welding, i've wanted to learn for years and it is finally materializing.

[jeenyus]

The studs on the differential cover is a great idea. I hated installing a new gasket on mine because of this annoying ass bolts.

[zwill23]

this m50 I have has an unknown history and will probably explode with the way I'll be driving it haha

It might surprise you, those M50's are hard to kill ;)

[mitchlikesbikes]

I really like the idea of a removable core support, definitely on my list of future projects.

I'm also very impressed with your diff rebuild, the extra locking from the additional plate paired with your new power plant should be a lot of fun.

Doin' werk!

Thanks! The removable core support should help a lot in the future, this m50 I have has an unknown history and will probably explode with the way I'll be driving it haha

I'm excited to lay down some elevens

[zwill23]

I really like the idea of a removable core support, definitely on my list of future projects.

I'm also very impressed with your diff rebuild, the extra locking from the additional plate paired with your new power plant should be a lot of fun.

Doin' werk!

[mitchlikesbikes]

here are some photos of some small stuff i did today

i am not going to be running the throttle body heater because i don't like extra hoses/failure points and this is a warm weather only car anyway. so i chopped the barb off of the feed fitting on the head and welded it shut. i also chopped the barbs off of the throttle body and filled the holes with jb weld. when the jb hardens completely ill sand it down so it looks nice and tidy.

[mitchlikesbikes]

i filled the diff with oil and installed it in the car today. after that i started tinkering with intake/pcv/icv stuff. i still need radiator hoses, heater hoses, and some bits and pieces for the ICV and PCV systems.

[mitchlikesbikes]

finished up the seals on the diff and put it back together. just need to wait for the hondabond on the cover to dry so i can fill it up and stuff it back in the car. i converted it to studs as well because diff bolts are a pain in the ass.

after the diff stuff i installed my oil pressure adapter with my oil pressure and temp gauge senders. i started reconfiguring my wiring for the gauges too since it needs to run to the opposite side of the engine. i got a new pressure sender that has a low oil pressure warning circuit built in so i'm adding an led low pressure light to the dash as well.




the low oil pressure light is a little LED button marker that i mounted in my radio block off plate next to my 12v and USB ports. it is smoked but lights up red. when everything is all done it will light up if oil pressure drops below 11psi.

[mitchlikesbikes]

i was able to do some test assembly on my differential. i initially had the shims backwards left to right and it caused my gearing to be very tight with no end play whatsoever. this was concerning but i had hope that swapping shims from left to right would take care of it. swapped shims and voila, good to go. pinion bearing and carrier bearing preload is slightly less than perfect but this diff is already used and "broken in" so hopefully this won't be an issue. backlash/freeplay is right at .005" which is dead on the tight end of spec. wear pattern on the drive and coast side is also dead on as pictured. this is a real testament to the tight tolerances that these diffs were manufactured with. i'm amazed to be honest...seal kit for the diff arrived this week so i am going to replace the seals and do the final reassembly in the next day or two, then pop it back in the car. will be very happy to have the diff done so i can get focused on some other things.

coast side of ring gear:



drive side:

[mitchlikesbikes]

i got a little excited/zoned in assembling the diff so i didn't really get any pictures, whoops. i removed the spacer and added my new clutch pack from thayer motorsports (who happen to have their products on amazon with prime 2 day shipping, booyah). i replaced the clutch cap bolts with new and then installed the 3.25 ring gear on the diff. i used resbond 2100* Fahrenheit rated thread locker on all of the internal components to ensure everything stays nice and tight.

i decided to bring the diff inside where its warm overnight to let it acclimate since i used heating/cooling to fit the ring gear and speed sensor trigger wheel and i didn't want the stupid trigger wheel to fall off while installing the diff in the case.

my seal kit should be here next week so i will finish the diff up then.

here are the only two photos i took of the diff. first is the finished product and second is the spacer that is leftover after adding the extra clutch pack





after the diff assembly i shifted focus to my removable core support and got that all finished up. i still need to finish prepping and paint all of the bare metal when i get a little warmer weather. i used captive nuts inside the frame rail and welded tabs to attach there, then welded tabs up in the corners above the headlights and welded captive nuts there to attach to the fenderwell section. i added one last bolt/captive nut on each side on the bottom of the frame rail for good measure. here are some photos, don't mind my horrendous welds lol
















i also drilled and tapped my pan for 3/4npt, and installed a 3/4npt to 12an fitting. i am also going to have it welded because the very thin pan won't allow the npt to seal by itself.

[mitchlikesbikes]

parts are all here!

should have a decent update tomorrow with the diff build up