1970Z Restore Thread, Let the Fun Begin!

[CG240Z]

Picked up a 1970 240Z that my aunt and uncle gave to me a few months ago and have been working on it quite hard ever since. It was my aunt's first car that she got in 1973 and she has had it since. 11 years ago a connecting rod put a baseball size hole out the side of the block and it has sat in their garage since then. I gladly took it off their hands and the project has begun!

The plan is to do a engine, trans, and rear end swap in it. I already picked up a 1979 ZX that I took the complete drivetrain out. The body was junk but the drivetrain was good. Got a buddy going over the trans and rear end for me pops is doing a complete rebuild on the engine. Also ditching the fuel injection, going to dual Weber carbs, bigger cam, and headers. Body and paint are in surprisingly good condition, so that will be the last thing I tackle. Right now I'm focusing on drivetrain and getting her back on the road.

This is the car the day I picked it up. Drove 15 hours each way to get her.

Right away I snatched the engine and trans out.

I'm thinking this is why the engine wasn't running right.

All the wiring on the car is atrocious, it's poorly spliced and random butt connectors everywhere. The engine harness is going to need to be replaced and the dash gone over. So I pulled the dash. Hopefully I'll be able to get it back in one day. haha

Engine bay had a few coats of grime and paint on it. It was looking pretty rough.

Decided to start fresh, so I had the engine bay soda blasted. Unfortunately I'm working out of 2 apartment garages so I don't have anywhere to blast, but it was only $150 and it came back awesome. Couldn't be happier with the results. This is the engine bay just bare metal.

Also picked up a cabinet blaster from Harbor Freight so I decided to test it out. Blasted, primed, and painted the brake booster and horns. Cabinet worked great and the parts came out great. Did this while I was waiting on the engine bay to get blasted.

[CG240Z]

Had yesterday off so I spent the day taping up and priming the engine bay. Once again, I think it came out great.

Next step is to lay the color down, but paint store is closed on Christmas, so that will have to wait until tomorrow. Just going with a satin black. I know it's not correct because it's not color matching, but I'm not sure what color the car is going to be so I'm just going to lay black down. I can always change it later.

After painting I will be working on the rest of the front end. Basically right now I'm working firewall and forward. Already have all the parts so I'm just working on it step by step. Picked up 4 piston calipers, slotted rotors, Tokico performance struts, eibach lower spings, bigger MSA sway bar, all new bushings and a few other things. It's really going to make the car pop. I'm taking my time working on the car and enjoying every minute of it. No need to rush since I don't have anything else to do. Merry Christmas too guys!

[steve91tt]

Great looking project and great car fixing weather here in texas. I think I have a brand new never installed engine bay harness for your car if you need one.

[CG240Z]

It is great weather and I do need an engine harness. I'll send you a PM.

[d240zx2]

You mentioned installing DUAL Webers. Have you considered triples?

[CG240Z]

I have considered triples, but I already have the webers off the original engine. I guess once I get it running and if I don't like the carbs I'll look into triple options.

[CG240Z]

Engine bay painted tonight.

[CG240Z]

Have the left strut assembly pretty much all put back together. Waiting on the lower ball joint which should be here by Friday. Also still getting my butt kicked the control arm. I'm trying to get the inner sleeve out so I can fit the new bushings in.

Tokico strut, eibach lower spring, slotted rotor, 4 piston caliper.

This sucker is pretty heavy, def not making the vehicle any faster, but I'm hoping she'll stop fast.

[pjoe]

The hardest part for me was getting the inner sleeve out of the outer rear control arms. I heated them until they were purple with oxy/acetylene torch, cut them down the middle with hacksaw, and still had to beat and peel them out. Had 1 person heating while the other was pulling and beating on it. Have fun with it...always fun seeing it go back together.

Brian

[Oiluj]

Nice work and nice that she's been in your family this whole time.

I'm sure she will be a great car!

[Brubaker]

The hardest part for me was getting the inner sleeve out of the outer rear control arms. I heated them until they were purple with oxy/acetylene torch, cut them down the middle with hacksaw, and still had to beat and peel them out. Had 1 person heating while the other was pulling and beating on it. Have fun with it...always fun seeing it go back together.

Brian

Amen to that. The fronts were nothing like the rear. I have no idea why they were so tough. They were much harder than the spindle pins.

CG, great looking assembly. Better than new. Keep it going.

[Rainman]

Looking great CG! Give some thought to replacing the steering rack bushings while you're that deep as well.. It'll be much easier with the engine and most of the front suspension off as you have it now. Oh and be sure and install some bump-steer spacers as well since you are lowering the car. They're a common (and fairly cheap) addition when lowering the car to help preserve the original suspension geometry. You can find them at Motor Sport Auto (MSA).

I ran the dual Weber DGVs on my 260Z for several years. I had a hard time getting them to run right, I hope they work out better for you..

Keep up the great work!

Tom

Edited January 12, 2012 by Rainman