Reliability mods for KLZE

[onlytrueromeo]

If your headgaskets are good, I would not bother with touching the internals of the engine. Headgaskets aren't the cheapest things in the world. I still think valvetrain upgrade is pointless and your money would be better spent other places.

Good thing brakes are not included! Get the best pads you can! (ones I recommended seem to do well for street, don't know if they're the best for lapping)

Honestly, SS lines and good fluid go a long way to reducing brake fade. However, SS lines can get expensive, and DO NOT get them off ebay. Someone from here would be your best bet for that.

Check your grounds, especially since the car has been neglected, don't want to cause any electrical problems! The "big three" upgrade should do it, will help the car run a little better. LOL I also gained 1 MPG by doing my grounds.

[fowljesse]

I recommend flushing the rad with distilled water, then filling with distilled, a little coolant, and Water Wetter, or any of the other similar products. With distilled, you have less particles to heat up. It won't make a HUGE difference, but will help, and is cheap. Did you know that pure water doesn't boil (or at least has a MUCH higher boiling point)?

[onlytrueromeo]

Jesse you'll never get 100% pure water in anything but a lab application haha.

[fowljesse]

True, especially in a 17 year old car. However, it has helped me. I had a '66 Buick Skylark that had an Iron block, and Aluminum heads that was my DD, and I had to drive through rush hour in PHX, AZ, in over 100 degrees. The car would overheat until I did this whole regimen.

[mazdags94]

Lol, sorry but I've read "Lemons" too many times.... it's Le Mans

Thats awesome that you're doing this. I would love to see the race! Are you doing the entire 24hrs yourself?

[onlytrueromeo]

nope its lemons fool!

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cout]

I always fill with distilled water and ethylene glycol. The fluid in the reservoir was cleaner than I've seen in other cars but still had a lot of particles in it. When we did the water pump we cleaned out every pathway we could get to, but I'm sure there's lots more nasty gunk we can't see. So a flush or two is definitely in order (should have done that on the old pump but didn't think about it at the time).

Any suggestions on what coolant to use? The only stuff they sell around here these days is dex-cool (obviously wrong) and green-color extended life coolants (which I think is OAT?).

And it really is "LeMons" (24hoursoflemons.com). The race coming up in South Carolina isn't a full 24 hours; it's more like 15 hours across 2 days and we have 4 drivers.

[wytbishop]

I would say in an application such as the race you're doing...the HEI and external coil are mandatory. Either that or get yourself 2 back up distributors that you know are in working order. That might actually be your best bet. You can usually find one at the wreckers. I buy every one I see and test them. Other than that the K family of engines are very strong. Even run down worn out ones seem to last a long time as long as they are still getting spark.

I would pay some attention to your tranny as well. I assume you're running a 5sp...flush it and put a good synthetic 75W90 gear oil in. Tranny's tend to break under hard acceleration in 3rd gear. Because it is in the center of the input/output shaft the shafts experience the greatest deflection in third so tooth contact is reduced. The bearing stress on the tooth face is magnified and the gears will strip and or break. Some have experienced tranny case failures under extreme circumstances but I believe that is almost exclusively a drag racing issue. Some Probetalk members manufactured a tranny brace for that but I wouldn't bother with it. Do be aware of repeated hard 3rd gear acceleration though.

Brakes can be improved but I agree with previous posts...SS lines, good pads and stock replacement rotors with a fluid flush is more than adequate. You can upgrade the rears cheaply from a Miata w/ sport suspension to get a slightly larger pad and rotor. Check my worklog for that. It's not going to make the car a lot better but it is noticeable and if you're replacing the calipers and stuff you can do the upgrade for nearly the same price.

[mazdags94]

nope its lemons fool!

http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I stand corrected

I've never heard of this race before. I play on words I see...