77 to 72 Rear Bumper Prep

[S30Driver]

Finally getting around to my long put off conversion from the big 280 rear bumper to the 240. Did the front 240 bumper a long time ago.

Driving around to burn up some gas, trying to only have a few gallons when I drain the tank to get the passenger side shock mount out. Stopped at the local marina. Very nice day.

Everything more or less ready to go, removed all 3 17mm nuts above in the hatch area, and 2 of the 3 14mm bolts below by the fuel tank. Only the middle one remains, the filler neck hose blocks it.

The secret to getting that shock out looks like the 4 screw access panel in the right rear wheel well. Once removed, you can see and get at many things much easier. Hoses, tank J bolts etc.

As well as slide the freed shock out toward the wheel well, with the wheel removed, which is what I did on the driver side.

Those nuts, bolts, and washers come in handy to re-use to plug the 3 holes left after removing the bumper shock.

Seals the rear hatch floor back up nicely.

Out of interest, I tried to collapse the shocks after removing the screw & releasing the gas.

Whacked them pretty good with a wood block and a 5lb brass dead blow hammer - they didn't budge. I remember collapsing the zx bumpers by just removing the gas screw and pushing them in.

I am wondering if the bumper had been called on to protect the car in a collision, if the bumper would have moved in & done any good.

Hopefully will have time to get it out tomorrow & remove the bumper filler I left on as a fake bumper.

Edited July 30, 2014 by S30Driver
addition

[siteunseen]

Nice car.

[rossiz]

glad to hear you got that anchor off the back - it's a pain and a bit fiddly, but nice to have it gone.

i used wide sst fender washers and matching rubber washers to block off the empty holes.

how are you planning on filling up the old holes in the bodywork? will your new bumper cover them?

[black gold man]

This pic is nov 2011 i removed my bumper and fixed some rust then i got it in the paint shop 7\4\2012.

Just yesterday i looked at my 78 in the pant booth . Its blue again.

Coming home soon. 240z bumpers going on.

I cut the bumper shocks with saw-all little pressure release but not bad.

That is baby pete pete R.I.P

BGM

Edited August 3, 2014 by black gold man

[S30Driver]

On Friday I got back to it, lowered the fuel tank, removed the one remaining bolt on the passenger side bumper shock, and voila - the bumper shock slid out toward the wheel well. (on Wed & Thurs had to rescue a friend who broke the right rear ball joint on his Chrysler Sebring - replaced the upper control arm & ball joint. What a job that was.)

While I was in there with the fuel tank lowered, I cleaned up the tank & refreshed its paint, and replaced the short fuel return line which felt hard compared to the others. Everything was in suprisingly good shape, especially the fuel filler which disconnected from the tank with no problem.

Since I had the rear up on jack stands, and as a while i'm in there deal, I decided to bleed the brakes to replace all the old brake fluid. Everything went smooth & now I have a very hard pedal and super responsive brake system, with clean fresh fluid coursing through the system.

Interestingly, the front almost self bled, hardly had to pump the pedal. I have heard people talk about gravity bleeding but never took it seriously. It was great, just had to watch my little bleeding reservoir fill, close the caliper bleeder, & keep the master cylinder topped off with fresh fluid.

Rossiz

I have not quite decided how I will finish up the back end, still test fitting and aligning the 240 bumper with the brackets. Very close now with the fit. The 240 bumper covers some of the holes and of course I am using some for the bumper mounts. Will look closer at it tomorrow when I do another fitment. Maybe I'll have a chance to see your car & see how your solution on the holes worked out.

I still have to clean up the spot weld area where the bumper spacer was and drill the holes for the side mounts.

(not looking forward to drilling into that beautiful body)

I am wondering how level the bumper sides on the 240 are before I drill the holes. Possibly someone with a 240 & the rear bumper on it could make a measurement of the distance from the bottom of the rear marker light to the top of the bumper for me.

Edited August 4, 2014 by S30Driver
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[EuroDat]

Your car looks neat de-bumpered. Im planning to do this when winter come back. Weather is to good now to have the Zed of the road atm.

Im curios how the bumper will fit the rear qarters. The 240Z rear quarters are recessed so in theory the mounting bracket will need to be shortened a little to stop the bumper from sticking out to far. Jeez, I hope that makes sense.

Can you post some photos of your progress? I would like to see what you did for the front bumper change. I ended up using a 240Z Xeon air dam to close the gap under the bumper and fitted the 240Z turn indicators. Still looking for a 240 grill.

Goodluck with your swapping.

Chas

[rossiz]

glad to hear things went well - i've gotta freshen up my brakes too...

so far i haven't finished off my tail, it's still a mess from the removal of the bumper spacer (spot welds, shadow from previous paint job) and the old shock holes. been on the fence whether to put on a 240 rear bumper or just do the body work and keep it bumper-less. the decision also ties into my nagging desire to do a dual exhaust, which involves moving the tank over and cutting a second exhaust tip recess in the valence panel.

so many decisions... for now i'm just gonna drive it.

looking forward to seeing your progress.

[S30Driver]

Chas

On the front, I fabricated my own brackets to mount the bumper, although I still have the 240 brackets, I couldn't get them to work as easily. I offset the front license plate to the right to take up some of the gap under the bumper. Will eventually find another 280 grill the lower gap properly.

On the rear sides, the bumper has some adjustment where the two end pieces attach to the center piece, as well as the welded side mounts are easily bendable. Looked ok on my 2nd test fit. I know what you mean about the recess though.

Will take some pix later today.

Rossiz

Dual exhaust... wow, you should route it through the open holes the the bumper shocks went through. Wonder if anyone has ever done that. Would be trick.

My next step is to clean up the spacer / spot weld area as well.

Glad your Z is running well, are you back to driving it to work?

[S30Driver]

Ok, used a grinder to clean up the spot welds, sanded & cleaned, adhesive primer, paint. Not as nice as Black Golds rear valance, but it looks presentable for now.

Using the 240 rear brackets, 1 bolt hole for the bracket to body on each side lines up. The right side will require drilling the 2nd hole for the bolt and a nut / fender washer on the inside. On the left side, the 2nd hole almost lines up - I notched the bracket for now to catch about 3/4 of the bolt/washer for now.

Will fabricate & change out the brackets later - the weather is way too nice right now to have the car off the road for this project.

Just need to drill 3 holes, pick up some stainless hardware & rubber washers to finish the mounting, polish the bumper and should be done for now.

Looks like with the bumper on, it hides most of the holes, unless you crouch down.

Mostly about half of the old shock holes are visible.

Chas - here are some pix showing the front grill / bumper area and the gap on the rear sides.

Let me know if you need anything else.

Edited August 5, 2014 by S30Driver
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[EuroDat]

Looks neat and clean.

Imo the front looks more involved, but its the rear bumper with the spot welded bumper guard that needs a lot of work to look good. You need to repaint as well.

You got yours off nice and clean. I have seen photos where its been removed with a chissel and the back is all dinted in. Not pretty.

Thanks for posting pics of the front.

Chas

[S30Driver]

Thanks Chas

I took the time & carefully drilled out the spot welds.

The front - one bolt hole lines up for the new brackets, I had to drill a new hole in the frame on each side for the rear of the bracket.

If I remember right, also relocated the horns.

[rossiz]

nice work - i'm getting inspired...