After the massive, massive amount of moolah, hope, and heartbreak, my Z is again alive!
Following my bitching/whining saga of crap over the last few months I hope to repay it with kindness. I have to give props to Evan (Wright (CA)) for coming out on pull-day and loaning me his "jack blocks", thanks Evan, I appreciate the hand. And I have to give serious props to Steve (ttz'in (norcal)) for housing my ride, lending garage space, putting in so much time, and above all - putting up with me the whole time. Thanks Steve, I couldn't have done it without you!
As for the problem with my exhaust leak?
The EGR tube nut that bolts into the back of the exhaust manifold? Yea, COMPLETELY free-roaming, not even a single thread in the manifold, for a long time. (rusted like crazy)
The second the motor came out of the car and came to eye-level it was glaringly apparent - we didn't even need to pull the motor to get to it. :-\ At least we nerf'ed the EGR, as well as replaced a completely brittle hose that snapped when the EGR was removed, cleaned up a bypass hose I installed previously, replaced the half-moon plugs with BDE solids, resealed the exhaust valve covers, etc while we were in there. Oh, and we also found the "clunk" that my car would make on harder shifts I had asked several shops about.
Apparently, an exhaust hanger was bent, and my catback was hitting the back of the diff.
The exhaust had hit it so hard there is a dent from where the corner of the diff would hit. Now, it's silent on shifts!
This was a long, hard, draining process.
Thanks to the TT.Net community for having amassed so much info, and its members for their generous help.
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