Hardway's 1971 240z #8011 - Build and Repair Thread

[Red7]

What a fabulous thread, very informative and looks like all your hard work has paid off! What a great looking engine bay [emoji41]

[Hardway]

What a fabulous thread, very informative and looks like all your hard work has paid off! What a great looking engine bay [emoji41]

 

Thank you so much for the compliment Red7.  As much work as I have put in to the car I cannot take all the credit for it.  The previous owner, Dave Hoffer and his team of mechanics deserve A LOT of credit as it came a long way under Dave’s ownership.  In wanting to give credit where credit is due below are just a few of the pictures Dave gave me when I bought the car.  All of his work really deserves its own thread.

 

Based on the pictures and what Dave told me, when he got the car it was in the same condition as many other old and tired Z’s at this point in their lives.  It was a running and driving car but very much a greasy project in need of some serious time, effort, and money to bring it back to proper form.  The blacked out engine bay is a huge pet peeve for me and was glad to see it was not carried over.  You can also see the passenger side orange inner fender.  The car was hit at some point in its life but I have been unable to get any details on it.

 

 

 

The suspension and other related components were in the same shape, present and complete but utterly worn out.

 

 

Just focusing on the engine and engine bay for now the engine received a complete rebuild.  With the engine out the engine bay was stripped, primed, painted, and all hardware re-plated and detailed. 

 

 

[Hardway]

The aluminum engine components received serious some polishing.  Even though you can barely see some of them once they were installed its almost like a nice surprise when you discover them again.

 

 

 

[wheee!]

Very Nice!

[Hardway]

A few updates to share.  I got all of my cylinder head issues sorted out.  After several days of posting and replying to my thread below I discovered the valves for the rear three cylinders were not adjusted tight enough.  Now they are on the tight side of .008 intake and .010 exhaust and everything is nice and quiet.

 

Here is the link to the thread in case you missed it -> http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/51743-240z-valve-train-tapping-after-head-work-videos-inside/

 

I ran in to another issue with the brakes sticking but determined it was just the left rear drum had auto adjusted itself too tight.

 

 

Luckily I could turn it by hand using a pry-bar.  I used the mag lugs to protect the wheels studs.

 

 

It only took a few clicks to get the right drag back on the drum.  However, since I had the wheel off I decided to inspect everything.  A visual inspection showed that everything looked good so I put it back together.

 

 

That is all for now.  I should have some more updates in a week or two as I have some other projects going on.

[EuroDat]

It was probably over adjusted when someone maybe tried to raise pedal height. The self adjuster shouldn't do that if working correctly.

The FSM mention several methods to adjust the brakes. In the later 280Z its by activating and releasing the handbrake.

Dave did a very nice job restoring it

[240260280z]

For completeness:

Mr. Matsuo did not know what these are for.

Thank you for the compliments EhlersRS! Yeah, I was really happy Shane was willing to ship some of the smaller parts. The ability to get parts outside of Ebay from other states at very fair prices is definitely providing support for the classic Z community.

I must admit, the mysterious front brackets have me intrigued. I looked in my ’71 FSM and there are no pictures or mention of the brackets anywhere. I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for them and I would love to hear it. For now, here are some more pictures of the brackets.

And one from under the car even though the valance panel is covering 95% of it.

[Patcon]

If he doesn't know; I don't know who would...

[Hardway]

With the Z running and stopping properly I wanted to share some detail work that was accomplished while diagnosing my sticking brake issue.  As I was troubleshooting the brake system I noticed just how tattered the original braided brake vacuum hoses were.  In my search for an alternative to the near $200 pair of hoses from MSA I started this thread -> http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/51823-alternative-brake-vacuum-hose-source/#entry474487

 

The old original hoses below.  They still worked but were completely dried up, hard as rocks, and were filthy from 40+ years of life under the hood.

 

 

 

After some discussion in my thread AZ-240z (Dan) indicated he had a used booster side vac. hose which was not braided but still in excellent condition.  I said I would take it!  In addition he offered to make me an engine side vac. hose.  We shared several emails back and forth with dimensions and pictures.  After about a week or so the two new hoses arrived.  Upon opening the box I was immediately impressed.  Not only with how good the hoses looked but how accurate the intake hose was that Dan made.

 

 

[Hardway]

It took all of 5 minutes to swap out the old hoses and install the new ones.  They fit like a glove and I believe the intake side hose fits better than the original.  It follows the lines and components under the hood very well.

 

 

 

The new hoses certainly match the cleanliness of everything else under the hood.  I know the non-braided hoses are not factory correct.  However, at 1/6^th the cost of a set of braided hoses I am perfectly happy.  If I was going for a true factory or concourse restoration I would pony up for the MSA hoses.  For now my car is a high quality driver and these fit the bill nicely.  It takes passionate owners and creative thinkers to think outside the box and come up with budget friendly solutions like this.  Thank you again to Dan and the entire classic Datsun community for helping me keep #8011 on the road.

[Patcon]

Did he heat form the hoses in the oven or something similar?

[wheee!]

I am wondering the same thing! I thought they were pressure moulded....