My black forged Piazza

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wedgenut
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Post by wedgenut »

Marks are hard to see I agree, that nasty big spinning thing gets in the way of getting the timing light and eyeballs in the right place. I usually tie off the Viscous fan with a bungy to stop it spinning when using a light but I often set the timing with a vacuum gauge. It works fine. Disconnect the vac line to the dizzy and connect a vac gauge to the line. This gives you idle vac reading. Adjust timing to highest vac reading usually 20" HG or thereabouts and you will be pretty close I can assure you. Just make sure your idle RPM is no higher than about 800rpm to prevent mechanical advance interference.

These cars will run quite happily a degree or so either way.
So many cars, so little cash
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Awesome news. The Piazza is back together. Putting the power steering pump back on was the absolute worst job, spanned a few days and resulted in a decent cut, monged fingernail, mini cuts all up both arms, and a bolt getting smashed with a hammer and sent flying to high heaven (never to be seen again). In conclusion, it's held on by three bolts and I don't give a f***. Stupidly engineered piece of shit!

Anyway, it's back together, doesn't leak a drop of anything anywhere (knock on wood) and I could actually see the timing marks this time! After all the assing around before, it was actually timed to ~10deg BTDC with the advance line connected, or 0 without! So I've advanced it back to where it should be, 10deg with the line blocked, or about 18deg BTDC with it connected. The engine sounds much more responsive, but it idles at two grand and the idle stop screw seems a little, er, hard (impossible) to get to! Any tips here?

Couldn't drive it because there's a Gemini with no front wheels blocking the driveway, but I think it's actually DONE.

Except that the headlight covers don't work.
Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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wedgenut
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Post by wedgenut »

The idle screw is piss easy to get to, don't confuse the idle screw with the throttle stop screw, don't touch that one. First thing is make sure you have free play on the cable and that the cable quadrant is hard down on the stop screw which you HAVE NOT tampered with we hope.

If you wander round to the drivers side and stick your feet against the front wheel and lean forward you will be looking down on top of the air plenum. Where the tthrottle body meets the plenum, on the left as you look down you will see a largish slotted screw sitting in a recess. That is your idle speed screw but make sure you do the following first.

Engine properly warmed up, throttle fully closed as mentioned before and VSV connector DISCONNECTED!!!

Adjust idle to 800rpm for manual or 900 rpm for auto. Then reconnect VSV connector and you are done. When engine is cold it will start at a slightly higher idle until it warms up and the IAC closes then it will normalise back to whatever you set it at. Oh and make sure the AC is switched off and no heater, headlights or anything else on when you do it.

Your welcome
So many cars, so little cash
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Ahh, had a geeze (in passing) at an Isuzu throttle body tonight, I see the bit you mean, should be able to change it on the weekend! I've been flat out prepping for the next drift comp this Saturday! Cheers :)

EDIT: Got it, now idling at a more reasonable 1000-1200 (memory pending). Still a touch high but it's not a huge concern at present.

In other news, I placed 8th in the drift comp, with <56rwkw! So happy with that!
Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Time for an update!

The car thinks it needs coolant, but it doesn't. Maybe I missed a wire or something, I'd better check it. Has anyone else had this?

I drove it the other day, the first real time since fixing a lot of stuff. It works! I can actually feel the turbo come on boost (just), and it pulls alright. Not lightning fast, but not bad. The turbo is definitely getting oil and there are no real flat spots. The headlight motor issue persists, even with the motor from the other Piazza, it just instantly blows the fuse. Bah. Oh, no more hard starting either. Turns out that was the uhh.. immobiliser... lol. So now that I've fixed the remote it actually starts like you'd expect.

Well, I bought a battery, welded up a battery bracket, put Chassis Black (tar) on the battery tray to prevent future rust, and touched up another spot of surface rust in the engine bay with some Cold Gal (rust proofing) primer and acrylic black. I gave the car a wash, and tried to cut and polish it, but it really didn't work... The paint's just shit. However, I found some more unexpected rust, a giant patch on the bottom rear of the driver's door where the paint's just fallen off. The good news is that it doesn't need plating. It's eaten in but not enough to compromise strength too much. I'll clean it up, hit it with some Cold Gal and/or a thin skim of bog, then just touch it up with some pressure pack black for now. There's also some light bubbling starting on the lip of the bonnet under the "turbo" badge, and in the rear window sill. I should touch them up before they get too serious.. I'd rather patchy touched-up paint, than rust.

I'm hoping to *drum roll* register the car in coming weeks. It's still not how I want it, but it's driveable, and hopefully enjoyable (or just a change from the R31). First on the list is getting the air con gassed. Second step, getting the rear window popped out so I can fix the boot lid rust. I have to hand sand the bloody front lip so I can paint and fit it, then rip the diff out and get the LSD shimmed. I have paints and can chuck my Isuzu badge on any day now.

Then, last of all (for the time being), I'll be visiting Industrial Springs and getting some custom springs made up all around, and grabbing some Koni's for the back to keep them captive.

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Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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Piazza_man
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Post by Piazza_man »

Good stuff mate. Keep at it.
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Fixed the headlight motor!!! HELL YES! It was just that little relay thingy to the inside of the battery - I'd already tried another one, turns out both were duds! So it's no longer chewing fuses! Rego tomorrow hopefully.
Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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Piazza_man
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Post by Piazza_man »

Good luck.
Skrilla
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Post by Skrilla »

Love the digi dash
If you boost it,they will run!!
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Bugle
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Post by Bugle »

Yeah the problem was you got the relay out of another Piazza! They always get smashed by the battery because hardly anyone with a Piazza believes in Newton's laws of motion.

Fix the coolant thing? The sensor is in the overflow bottle, so the radiator can be full but it requires the overflow bottle to have a certain amount of coolant in it.
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Yeah, I'm an idiot, it was just the overflow bottle (lol). And agreed on the battery clamp/laws of motion thing. I don't understand how people drive cars without battery clamps, madness.

Anyway. IT'S REGO'D! I've now driven it, and driven it through the hills! It's altogether a functional car with no major issues!

Plenty of little ones though, but it's fairly daily-able now. Here's my to-do list:
- Flush and bleed brakes with new dot 3 fluid as per manufacturer specs (the guys at the car store recommended dot 5... errrmm, not sure if that's wise)
- Get brake pads that aren't made of newspaper
- New tyres - the ones on there are made of stone
- Hurry up and get custom springs, so I can:
- Get Koni rears too (the Koni's at the front are the only thing making the car drivable!)
- Get a Piazza boss kit, so that I can fit an aftermarket steering wheel, the standard one feels crap
- Do valve clearances at some point - it sounds like a truck, almost like just one of them isn't right!
- Unobtrusively fit better speakers

That's the fairly urgent stuff. From there it'll (gradually) be onto the fun stuff:
- Re-paint the red and fit my Isuzu grille badge
- Fix a few spots of rust, including the hatch (which will need the window out)
- Shim the LSD!
- Get A/C gassed
- Fit an aftermarket ECU, my 380cc injectors and the GT2860RS, then get some power
- Fit the front lip
- Get the paint touched up

A couple of potential issues have popped up. The heater core leaked a small amount of coolant, but it was stone cold, and then it stopped leaking and that was that.. and it hasn't since, which is strange. I'll try not to worry about it unless/until it does it again. Also, the dash cluster flicks on and off sometimes, and when it does it freaks out and reads maximum temp. It freaked me out, but the car hasn't even thought about overheating, so all is well. It's freaking annoying/distracting having the dash flicker on and off though. I've done some reading and will surely eventually have to rip it out to repair. Can anyone point me in the direction of the external (loom) earth points so that I can check them first?

Pictorial evidence of it on the road soon!
Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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Post by IZU069 »

Congrats on getting it on the road!

Re the heater core, try some (fine ground) black pepper. Yes - it can work (at least for copper cores)!
If it was a radiator, I'd suggest finding and crimping either side of the leak, But being a heater core, IMO may as well replace it or have it pro flushed & fixed.


Dash earths are a problem. Cary's Piazza has a few annoyances like that.
The pdf has the earth points though that may require deciphering.
I'd be tempted to add my own to anywhere on the chassis but noting that that should only be from the PSU or power earth - NOT any signal earths (not that that should generally matter).
Also a general discon & recon of dash connectors though I think that involves disassembly, Hence maybe use a contact-cleaner spray instead.


STOP PRESS!! DOT5 is NOT okay (but 5.1 is ok) - see the next replies. Big THANKS to Bugle!
The new brake-fluid DOT should be fine, though I recall that there was an issue using DOT 5 instead of DOT 4 - not that I can remember what (maybe swelling, and for a certain motorcycle?.
But try googling etc. (I think I concluded that new lubricating oil specs did cover predecessors so it was just a a matter of sticking to viscosity (ie, SAE30W = 20W-50 for G- & 4Z series engines and gearboxes).)


And I'm glad you mention a different ECU in conjunction with later injectors LOL.
Delco per chance?

And I'd be curious what the Konis cost. Though I got my last set of 4 for $11 each, their list price has shocked me (pun natural).STOP PRESS!!
Last edited by IZU069 on Mon Oct 29, 2012 9:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
IZU069 - ISUZU means a lot to me.
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Bugle
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Post by Bugle »

DOT5 is silicone fluid, don't use that
DOT4 is fine, can you even get DOT3 anymore since 4 is backward compatible?
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Post by IZU069 »

Holy Cow - I never realised DOT5 was silicon based. I hope to Cow it clearly says so on its packaging!
I did use silicon brake fluid once (which requires a complete change of rubbers) but didn't think it worth the hassle etc.

A see now that DOT5.1 is the normal polyethylene glycol-based fluid like DOTS 4 & 3.

I like the brief info on Wiki - eg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOT_4 except for the bit "a vehicle that uses DOT 4 might overheat the brakes if a DOT 3 (a temperature downgrade,) is used.".
I think I'd rather emphasise the possible loss of brakes if the DOT3 is used - the overheating of brakes might THEN occur as the vapour pushes out the pads or shoes. but IMO that is somewhat secondary to the main issue being the loss of brakes or braking.

So to summarise, DOT3 to DOT4 to DOT5.1 is okay. But DON'T use DOT5 (except after an overhaul with no later mixing with other fluids).
[ 3, 4 & 5.1 should be backward compatible, but maybe check a better reference than Wiki. However maybe what I heard was not to use DOT5 instead of DOT4 which now makes total sense since you can't mix the 2 types (silicon & PE-glycol) nor use the same seals nor arguably any of the brake rubbers. DOT3 is so long ago I'm certain it was not part of that advice. ]


FYI - if ever desperate for brake fluid - ie, you need fluid to get home etc - use water, not any oil etc. But remember that it will then boil at 100°C, not >200°C as required & specified.
That trick saved my life once. Deciding to limp home after a "rough" motorbike weekend (the Hell's Angels' Broadford concert), despite "clearing" steep downhills & hairpins on just a rear brake (and good Ducati engine braking), I decided to play safe and replenish my front brake fluid with good ol' King Parrot Creek water. Just as well - cruising around a bend, suddenly a 4WD decided to do a u-turn from the left shoulder. Without the fronts it would have been a lovely T-bone.
A week later I flushed out with brake fluid and never had any problems. Well, not with its brakes anyhow!
IZU069 - ISUZU means a lot to me.
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archangel62
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Post by archangel62 »

Thanks for the info guys! I *think* the stuff I bought was 5.1, but at any rate, I flushed it on Sunday with new dot 3. I think it was probably a good idea to do a full system flush anyway. While I was at it I rust treated the underside of my battery tray welding, and sprayed a bit of cavity wax (another rust protector) up inside the top of the guards where some surface rust was starting.

Interestingly, all of the bottles in the car store (dot 3, 4, and 5.1?) specified the same minimum boiling temp of 260 degrees. I might investigate this a little further in the future and try to find something higher temp - but given a slightly spirited drive in the hills, the brake pads smell atrocious in a hurry anyway, so I think I've got bigger problems.

Does anyone know if you can/where you can get half decent front pads for the Piazza? I've seen some on eBay, but no idea on the quality. I've been told that the rears are a direct swap for RX7, but I'm yet to confirm.

I also fitted some of those spiffy Narva arctic white headlights (they still look a bit blue... hmm...) and have to admit they made pretty much bugger all difference. They're not that bad, anyway - I just wanted a little extra. As for the cost of Konis, all of mine were bought second hand, but I've since found out that there's an Australian distributor - I forget the prices now, but I think they're nestled in my huge shock absorber write-ups on OzGem and GemiSA. Off the top of my head, between $600-$800 for a set of 4 oil adjustable "reds" including shipping to SA.

Does anyone know if Spax are any good? They're Krypton Gas, which I'm sus of, because every gas shock I've even had has been rubbish. I say this not so much for the Piazza, but for the track Gemini... I need on-car adjustment, which is the one thing the Koni's practically lack.

The heater core seems to have not leaked again... no idea what caused it, but I'm going to pretend it didn't happen until my optimism is disproved lmao

Now I may have just got it on the road, but I'm thinking that in a couple of weeks I'll get the rear window professionally removed, drive it home and remove the diff, drop said diff off (thanks Skyline) to a diff place and get it shimmed while I fix (weld) the rear hatch rust. I should have that sorted in a weekend, and a few weeks later should have the diff back in and tight. By that time I should be ready for my first engine oil flush and change too - I'd prefer to do it around 500km than 1000.

Once that's done, it's off to Industrial Springs.

P.S. I'll probably be bringing her out to All Jap Day (Adelaide) next year, possibly with Lachlan's too! We'll have to park somewhere remotely near the Bellett guys, to help stamp in the existence of the Isuzu brand.
Indigo - '76 TX Gemini sedan, G180W+T project,
Abigail - '81 TE sedan, white, G180W ITB project,
New Hotness - TG Gemini drift car, orange, 4ZE1+T
Tardis - 1986 Piazza 4ZC1-T, black, forged, 136rwkw @13psi
Coupe - TX coupe grip car, "do it later", G180W+twin carbs
Trevor aka Jimmy's Gem - Grandpa-spec TD
BA Falcon - Tow car
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