1970 Z Refresh...biting the bullet

[motorman7]

For lawn ornaments, some people have Gnomes, others have Fountains; I have decided that the 240Z Exhaust System looks appropriate. We'll see how the wife likes it when she gets home. It's gotta increase the property value!

PS: Can't believe how easy this was to take out- 3 bolts and 10 mins.

[motorman7]

Finally got the engine in. Wasn't too bad, just a lot of details to take care of. I had to finish putting in the brake line clips. I cleaned up the steering rack a bit more and did a temporary mounting of the assembly. Will finalize when the second batch of zinc returns with the correct nuts and bolts. I also did another wax on the firewall and a bit more detail cleanup.

It was nice to find a red stripe on the flywheel, Crank, and pressure plate to line up the assembly. I am guessing this is balanced due to all the unique holes in the flywheel.

I temporarily installed the intake and exhaust manifold just to see how it would look (waiting on the zinced Air Galley). Also attached newly painted exhaust assy. The colors look good. The exhaust paint was near the exact color of the wired and sanded exhaust pipe. That was a nice surprise.

Will start to attach all the other engine items as time permits. This seems like it will be a bit of a process as there is still stuff to clean.

[motorman7]

Put some more items on the engine. Added the starter, fuel pump, fan assembly (still original paint), fuel lines, and passenger side hoses. Also put on the thermostat housing and smog pump. The smog pump cleaned up nice, it was looking pretty bad.

So, I made a big error. I put the motor mounts on the wrong sides. The long one goes on the drivers side and the short on the passengers. I made the assumption (and didn't check my pics) that the motor sits straight up and down. Such is not the case, it is tilted at a near 10 degree angle. As a result, I had to lift the engine up and swap mounts.

The thing that clued me into the problem was that the smog pump was very close to the frame as was the support arm. At this point, I realized something was wrong. I went back and checked my pics and sure enough, the long mount goes on the drivers side. Anyway, problem is corrected and I will continue to assemble. Should get more parts in the next couple days.

Rich

[Carl Beck]

Looking GREAT - don't forget that you'll have to take the intake manifolds back off - to get the Air Injection Tube's back in...

Keep the pictures comming - BTW - did you ever say how many miles your Z has on it at this point?

FWIW,

Carl B.

[motorman7]

Keep the pictures comming - BTW - did you ever say how many miles your Z has on it at this point?

FWIW,

Carl B.

Hi Carl,

The car has 96K original miles. I would like to keep it below 100K for as long as possible, and definitely less the 2K a year.

Rich

[Richard Oben]

Beautiful work and inspiration for the rest of us.

Cheers Richard.

HLS30-009070

[Carl Beck]

Hi Carl,

The car has 96K original miles.

Hi Rich:

That is even more amazing!! It looked like it had less than 30K miles on it before you started detailing it. Your Father must have taken exceptional care of that car.. way beyond exceptional..

FWIW,

Carl B.

[motorman7]

Got the Intake manifold, crossover items and carbs assembled. Should get the air galley and radiator on Friday. Might have it running by Sunday. That would be nice. I miss driving it:disappoin I am debating on whether to polish up the carb domes. Not really sure what the originals were like.

Edited July 9, 2009 by motorman7
forgot

[motorman7]

Got the horns cleaned up. Cleaned the rust off the back with a wire wheel and steel wool. Sprayed with clear lacquer. On the front, painted the outer ring but just touched up the center. The color is very close.

[motorman7]

Well, she is pretty much finished and up and running! Still a few things I want to do but for the most part the engine bay is done. Remaining items include bead blasting the valve cover, replacing the yellowed electrical terminals, and cleaning up a few hoses, and adding the two Radiator decals.

Was very fortunate on the final build up. Car started right up after one small hiccup. Had everything put together, went to start, and only heard the relay click. Since I zinced the back end of the starter, I figured I messed something up there. Took the starter/solenoid assy off and rechecked all the connections. Cleaned the copper contacts inside the solenoid and some of the other elec connections. Did a quick bench test and starter spun. Assembled on the car and turned the key and the car started right up. Not bad. I adjusted the timing (audibly, will need to buy or borrow a light) and reset the carb airflow. Everything is running very nice even at high R's.

I did have a small fuel leak on the forward float bowl, but tightening the nut stopped the drip.

Below are a couple pics. Some before and some after. Will post finals when the items listed above are done. Man, this was really fun. I want to buy another one so I can do it again. Boy, I am going mental here.

Rich

[26th-Z]

What a difference! Very nice

[=Enigma=]

I really love the before and after pics. I wish I had that kind of sticktoitivness. Wanna do mine next?

On the plating, is the finish really as bright yellow as it appears in the pics?

Edited July 12, 2009 by =Enigma=