My First S30 - '72

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

Well the other day I typed a long introduction. Sure enough, with my luck, the site was doing maintenance when I clicked 'post.' So here we go again (with a much shorter version).

Hello everyone! My name is Justin and I live in Montana. Last year (Feb 15th, 2014) I bought my first Z. 84 300ZX GL. It has had some work done to it (full rebuild, decked heads, upgraded valvetrain, and a bigger exhaust) before I purchased it. It was a dimond in the rough. But it was right on the money for it's worth. Paint was mostly good, had some body rust (underneath the chassis is golden). The PO thought the fuel pump was out (and being $200+ for an OEM pump), he decided to sell it. Took it home for $400. New battery and a full tune up and she was pulling strong. Does mid 14's on the 1/4. Not bad for a NA weighing in at appx 2900lbs with myself, my sub, and 1/2 a tank of gas (I pulled about 180 lbs of junk from the car). I've gotten up to 40 mpg when doing 60 behind a semi. I love it to death.

So for the past 6-8 months, I've grown more and more in love with the 240Z. It instantly became one of my dream cars. So after checking Craigslist for months, I found one. 1972 with 86k original miles. Needs a mild restoration. Nothing I can't handle. Bought the lovely for $330. A lot of the original parts were still in good condition. Came with an extra windshield and dash from a garage find in Washington. I have a couple pictures of the OE dash that I will upload. The condition is astonishing. Now, as far as the rust goes, the affected areas (for new metal to be welded in) are in the shell right above the front frames, the rear quarter (just around the wheel well), and the drivers side floorboard. All easily attacked and fixed in a weekend.

The engine wasn't seized after sitting for the last 18 years (hasn't been registered since 97, so I'd assume that was the last year it was driven). So I was happy. Told me that the engine wouldn't need a whole lot of work (some gaskets, timing, water pump, just basic stuff). So I'm pretty pumped.

I may be getting a better job here soon which will pay well. If I get it, I'll be having the car's body work done by professionals as well as having the car painted in Bayside Blue. I'm great with engines, but never attempted my hand at body work (or welding in general) till a few days ago. Now for the goodies (in some picutres, I started attacking the surface rust and paint).

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

So, my plans for this car are to make it track ready. Road legality isn't much of an issue. It's Montana, the cops are nice and don't go picking fights. I'll be doing a full cage as well as stiffening up the front end. Basically, designing a tube frame into the existing chassis. The interior will be gutted, cleaned, and new carpet will be laid. I plan on taking out the dash and swapping it with the good one. Not going to use the original bumpers (good shape, will sell) as they will not be needed with the stiffened chassis. I already planned on cutting part of the quarter panels and doing flares, so the quarter rust isn't a problem for me. It's gone either way. I'm getting some wheels from a friend (old school Niche Shocking Shock's 18x8.5 (with 245's) for free with good rubber which is nice. I would like to source out some front fenders and some OE badges (mainly the badge for the hatch) and louvers on the hatch (spare hatch has brackets for it already, so instead of filling the holes in, why not just add some plastic). Eventually, I'll end up going with a RB25DET swap. I've heard about the RB25/30, but that's just more money down the drain.

[siteunseen]

Welcome aboard, they are addictive.  Nice projects you have going.

 

$330?  Refurbished steering wheels are worth that.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/71-72-73-DATSUN-240Z-WOOD-STEERING-WHEEL-SURVIVOR-NICE-/361190282898?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3A240Z&hash=item54189e5692&vxp=mtr

[cbuczesk]

Welcome! If you're making a track car I'd keep the current dash and put a half cover over it. Sell the nice dash and use that money toward building the car. Why put badges and carpet in a track car? Lighter is faster! And it's cheaper if you don't have to buy anything. Your rust issues are very common. Keep that extra windshield. You might need it if you do track days.

 

Chuck

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

Siteunseen: yes, $330. I had the same response when I saw it on Craigslist for $350. I had to call to make sure that wasn't a typo. Haha. We made the deal for $325 but then he brought out a Chiltons that covers from 70-88. So I tossed an extra $5 his way because it will be useful for my Z31 as well (manual includes electrical and vacuum diagrams which will help me immensly when redoing the engine bay in the 240Z; as I'll need some stuff that isn't there or is cut in half such as the throttle cables).

Cbuczesk: I'd like to keep the better dash and use that. I want it to look clean. Hence the carpet and the hatch badge (plus, I love the Fairlady badge haha). Plus I want my lady to feel proud to ride in it. It won't be used at track days as we don't have many tracks in Montana (which royally sucks). We have a few drag strips and some small circuits (dirt, not paved, for derby). I want to do a track setup because this is Montana, and I do live in the mountains. Which of course means some amazing roads to drive on. The reason for the extra windshield is because the current one has a crack at the top right side. This doesn't bother me as I know the glass won't shatter at higher speeds (my Z31 has the same crack almost but on the bottom left and it hasn't fractured or anything at 150mph. But again. for a clean look. So basically, I plan on it looking clean, going fast, handling well, and being very safe. As for the rust being common, I'm assuming that is for the area above the front section of the frame as well? If so, got any tips on handling that? Also, any threads regarding that specific location that list off what others have done? I'd search but my back is out of allignment again and I just got off a 12 hour shift so all I'm inclined to do is grab food and a beer. Haha. Thanks!

[Montana Z]

Welcome to the club.  It's always nice to see another 240 in Big Sky Country:)

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

Thanks. I bought this from a guy in Monarch actually. Was a bit of a drive last Friday. Went through White Sulpher Springs and came back through Great Falls/Helena (I live in Townsend). My goal is to have it finished (at least driving and stopping) by my 23rd birthday in late May. I've got access to every tool I could possibly need and a lot of motivation, so I've got that going for me (not that the cold is helping me any).

[Montana Z]

If you need help with anything let me know.  I spend quite a bit of time working in Townsend during the summer.  For the record... I'm pretty jealous of that dash you have.

[cbuczesk]

For the inner fender rust above the frame rail I make a template of the factory "patch", remove the "patch", cut out the rust on the area behind it, replace it, make a new "patch" from the template and weld it in. I have a drawer full of templates for different parts of the car. We have a serious rust problem here in PA.

 

Chuck

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

I would love some templates if you would't mind making copies. What's the price?

@Montana Z: I'll certainly keep that in mind. I currently work graveyards at the Town Pump during the weekdays. I'm hoping to score a job at Helena Sand and Gravel as a diesel mechanic (which will fund the restoration and RB swap in 3-4 months). The biggest issue I'll have is doing the welding on such thin steel (20 gauge from the factory as I've understood from searches). I've made a friend here who frequently welds 20-24 gauge, so that will help me a lot.

[cbuczesk]

I can make a copy of my template and send it to you or I could just make the metal "patches" with holes for plug welds and ship them to you. How's $25 shipped for the 2 metal "patches"? Send me an email if you want to do that.

 

Chuck

cbuczesk@comcast.net

[pittspeng@hotmail.com]

$25 for the patches and shipped to Montana?

I seem to have come across a question that is of importance for today's progress. Tore off the valve cover, lobes are clean and smooth (yay! no oil starvation!). I also wanted to check the cam timing. Got the first cylinder to TDC and checked the dizzy. The dizzy is timed. However (as seen in the photo below), I notice the cam isn't in proper timing (or so I believe). There isn't a peg or notch so I can't exactly go by that for the cam timing. The light colored link is on the number 2 and at perfect TDC, it's 1.5 links from the number 2 on the cam. I don't really plan to take off the timing cover to count the indiviual links. But I can say that everything rotates smoothly. But that doesn't mean the valves aren't bent. So therein lies my question. Can the cam gear be rotated around or can it only fit one way? Of course there is always the option that they just got the cam in place and the crank in place and didn't bother to check the marks on either but rather counted by links. And there is always the option that the tensioner lost tension (if I remember right from pictures, it's controlled by oil pressure) and the slack caught up and I'm a mere mm or two from taping the valves. Gonna do some more looking and gonna see if the chain is loose (or if I can move it at all rather).