Torby's 240Z Project

[Notorious Nerd]

Oh now this is so cool! And a hell of a lot of excellent work! Keep it up man!

[rcb280z]

Outstanding work Torby!! Just one question, when can I ship you my 280? But then again I would miss out on what I like to. Great work man!

[EuroDat]

Torby, This is one h*** of a project. Hats of to you man. Well done. I dont think I would have the courage to try a front end swap like that.

Chas

[Torby]

Thanks for the kind comments! Much appreciated! :classic:

Outstanding work Torby!! Just one question, when can I ship you my 280? But then again I would miss out on what I like to. Great work man!

Thanks! Ship it anytime you like, not so sure you'll get it back! Seriously, though - if you're ever in this part of the world, make sure to stop by for beer.

Ran into a minor setback with the engine, so it'll be a small pause before I can continue...

Edited April 4, 2013 by Torby

[e-tek]

Wow - LEAD!!!! Some great work going on there!!

[Torby]

Wow - LEAD!!!! Some great work going on there!!

Thank you, I really appreciate it! :classic: You're doing a lot of that type of work yourself! :classic:

Ok, so finally some progress again.

After measuring all bearing gaps, to make sure they are ok, I spent a lot of time on the pistons, rods and rings. Now I have never rebuilt an engine before, so I have to be thorough, and doublecheck everything I do.

Gapping the piston rings took a lot of time. I gapped them according to JE specifications, grinding only from the outside to the inside, to avoid a rough edge towards the cylinder wall.

Using the a piston to make sure the rings are correctly aligned in the cylinder.

Keeping track of the gaps before and after correcting them.

Next was getting the pistons connected to the rods. I found the best way to this was to modify two flathead screwdrivers, to get the locking pins in place. I destroyed a couple of these trying to install them, but luckily there were some extra wire locks supplied with the pistons.

So after battling the **** wirelocks for a good while, I finally had them all mounted correctly, and it was time for installing the rings.

Aligning the rings according to JE specifications.

Our dog probably thought I was working extremely slowly..

I finally got them all assembled, though! :classic:

Edited May 3, 2013 by Torby

[Torby]

Time to get the crankshaft in.

I carefully installed the seal. This is supposed to be done with the crank installed, but I did it before installing the crank.

All bearings in place. I applied lots of oil (15W40 mineral) to all bearings before torquing.

All torqued down.

I forgot to take some more pictures here, but you can barely see the side seals for the rear main cap.

Time to get the pistons in. Lots of oil to keep everything lubricated.

ARP rod bolts require special lube.

All pistons installed and rod bolts torqued to Eagle's specifications.

Next I cleaned the block properly, and started masking it up for paint. I wanted to finish the "dirty work" before painting.

When masking machined surfaces like this, just knock the tape along the edge with a hammer, and you can easily tear the tape off, leaving a clean cut along the machined edge.

Now I just need to get some 2k primer before I can continue with the paint. :classic:

Thanks for looking, more later!

[Hardway]

You are making some great progress there Torby. We are all enjoying your thread. Keep up the good work!

[Torby]

Thanks for the kind comment, really appreciate it! :classic:

Added two stickers to the Z, from my favorite Japanese tuners. Their cars are huge sources of inspiration.

Got the block primed with 2K primer. Also rubbed down the the brake booster, as this will need some paint later. Did the crank pulley and alternator bracket, too, which I believe are the two parts except the block that are supposed to be blue.

I've sprayed a couple of times before, but never mixed paint, hardener etc myself. Was a bit nervous about getting it right. Followed the recipe, but added a little more base, as the paint became a little thin (or at least I think it did).

Started spraying at low pressure, and turned it up it as I sprayed along and saw how the paint flowed.

Didn't turn out too bad I think.. :classic:

The paint looks a little on the dark side to me. It was mixed to match the engine color on one of my brother's Zs. Will see tomorrow when it's dry.

Thanks for looking, more later! :classic:

[Torby]

Between gardening and servicing the daily driver, I managed to squeeze in a little work on the Z this weekend.

My other Z (now parts car) came with a lot of goodies, among them a full set of Prothane bushes and a lot of refurbished (zinc plated) bolts and hardware. A little while ago, I gathered all the extra suspension parts, and had them sandblasted and powder coated. So, time to start mounting stuff up. It's a bit of a puzzle, though, because none of the refurbed bolts are cataloged, only put in plastic bags according to sizes. Please note that this is only losely mounted at the moment, nothing is torqued down yet.

Using the supplied grease to lubricate the Prothane bushings for front control arms.

Removing powder coat from the front crossmember, to make room for the bolts.

New ball joints as well.

Thanks for looking, more later (when I can locate some of the parts I'm missing..) :classic:

[Tim B.]

Fantastic job!!! Holy sh#t I wish I was half as talented....Good stuff!!!

[e-tek]

This really is the fun part. I always drag my butt through the body and prep stages until they're (finally) painted....then I try to take my time detailing and sorting all the parts that are to go back on. This summer is a little piece of hell for me because I have 2 cars in prep/paint stage, but the payoff will come this winter when I'm in your position!