Hello from across the pond! Searching for a 240z

[Woody928]

Time for a mini update albeit not too much to report, we managed to keep using the car well into winter before we had to bow out to the salt and grit which was appearing on the roads.

 

Good news is that the car has a new gear knob fitted, its very boring and orginal in style as well as looking far too new for my taste (needs some patina). All that said it has made the gearbox a pleasure to use and shifts much more precise, thanks to Mr Dezart's help we even sourced one with M10 fitment from the states to screw straight onto the quickshifter. Goodbye to my homemade block of oak!

 

The car hasnt turned a wheel in a few weeks but the handbrake needs to be sorted before show season, after a quick investigation on ramps it appears to be the mechanism rather than the cable however I have my concerns over access with the solid diff mount and diff blocking most access.

 

I also had a small mishap while protecting the suspension with ACF 50 when driving onto inspection ramps to raise the car, only one ramp gripped and I managed to drive over one and damage the bottom of the passenger wing which I was fuming about. It now needs some straightening, welding and repainting at some point, I've pulled it back out and touched up with paint but $^!# happens somtimes I guess.

 

Fingers crossed that the handbrake and exhaust will be sorted before show season. Lots of weekends being booked in already.

 

IMG-8696 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Simple but effective, all stickered up

IMG-8729 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Sitting pretty over winter, the last time I got her out before the weather turned....

IMG-8722 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[Woody928]

So after some very helpful advice on here I've been starting to crack on with the latest element of the project with our full new exhaust system now here courtesy of Zstory. I still need to have a proper look at it when I get a chance however time hasn't allowed me. On first glance it looks superb though, we've gone all out with the racesport to future proof against my aspirations to build an engine eventually...

 

2D5651DC-55A7-42E8-8D71-C2A88F4BAF6E by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

E96B71D7-E33F-45F5-AAB9-40D727F14AD2 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

I started to get a bit ahead of myself this evening now that there's some extra daylight available, belated Crimbo present in the form of an ali low lift motorsport spec trolley jack to help matters along and the car is up in the air to crack on with the project. Whilst its not the high lift that I aspire to own it seems to do the job...

 

All seems to be going pretty well so far having covered all of the bolts in Plus Gas, via a small senior moment I got the carbs off tonight and most of the exhaust unbolted, fingers crossed that progress continues and the weather improves! I should get to it in anger from Thursday onwards....

 

IMG_9277 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

68FAAC5B-80DA-48F6-9DAD-291928760406 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_9290 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[grannyknot]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:44 PM, Woody928 said:

My exhaust restrictions, no idea how much difference to expect with the shiny Story one going on... 

The Zstory will be night and day compared to that strangled exhaust you have been using,  really is a beautiful piece of work that header.

[Woody928]

21 hours ago, grannyknot said:

The Zstory will be night and day compared to that strangled exhaust you have been using,  really is a beautiful piece of work that header.

I really hope you are right, I'm looking forward to testing it all out in anger.... Certainly reassuring ?

[Woody928]

Well lots of progress made today, its been a damn long and wet day at that however the old exhaust system is now off and the new one fitted up in place.... 

 

I'm back on it tomorrow however I've got some more immediate issues to sort, to fit the Racesport manifold into the engine bay I had to remove the steering column to get enough space to squeeze it in, that in itself was fine however I now cannot reconnect it at the top because the poly coupler has expanded pushing the bolts out at an angle so I can't relocate them back into the top of the column. Anyone know how I can compress the coupler or work something out to get this connected and the steering back? 

 

The last thing I did tonight was to start the car for the first time, good news was that it fired straight up with some choke, bad news is that its running like an asthmatic dog... I'm guessing it's a combo of full new exhaust, no more K&N's but open trumpets, and that the carbs been removed, thrown around and are out of whack. I'm planning on watching the Ztherapy DVD for guidance but any hints or tips to get it running ok would be much appreciated! I did pick up a carb syncrometer last week at least... 

 

Last one is I need to work out where to connect the central exhaust hangar, currently it doesn't seen to meet up with anything obvious  In the meantime my temporary fitting assistant the cable tie is helping out... 

 

I feel knackered having been scrambling around on the ground all day, and certainly have massive high lift envy of people right now however it proves its still possible. Given that I'm a complete DIY, home taught mechanic when it comes to things like this I'm quite happy with the results so far. Certainly a case of giving things a go and having lots of spare nuts and bolts around and plus gas to cover everything. Short of the suspension its the biggest job on the car that I've tackled yet! 

 

IMG_9321 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Definitely got a larger diameter pipe going all the way back now! 

IMG_9319 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Out with the old and in with the new... 

IMG_9347 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_9354 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_9360 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Already hidden away, seems almost criminal... 

IMG_9373 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[Mark Maras]

I'm curious if one could throw the coupler into boiling water to make it a bit more supple and then put a good hose clamp on it?

[grannyknot]

That's a very interesting heat shield you have mounted, what is it made from?

[Woody928]

On 4/4/2019 at 11:14 PM, Mark Maras said:

I'm curious if one could throw the coupler into boiling water to make it a bit more supple and then put a good hose clamp on it?

Thanks for the suggestion but really didn't want to risk it... 

On 4/4/2019 at 11:21 PM, grannyknot said:

That's a very interesting heat shield you have mounted, what is it made from?

This is the stuff, basically double layer aluminium heat shielding. Very affordable and basic but provides a big barrier to the headers to shield the bulk of the heat from the carbs, I'm sure there's nicer looking solutions however its very functional! 

https://www.nimbusmotorsport.com/products/view-product/nimbus-gii-heat-shield/

 

Thanks for the kind words and suggestions guys! 

 

Well what a day it has been! It's taken me 12 hours however I can say that the car is now sorted and moving under its own steam again  Having spent the morning toying with he running issues at hand and bouncing ideas off a few people (Mainly Ali who has been my Yoda for the last two days and listening to all of my wims and questions, even taking time out of his working day to call me to talk things over), it was eventually concluded that it must be an exhaust leak that was causing all of the issues... The exhaust colour in particular supported this! 

 

All of the ingredients were otherwise there... (Thank you to those who suggested this). Fuel, air and ignition were't issues so it meant I needed a new exhaust gasket at 10.30am with nothing off the shelf in the UK in lots of cases.... Call in Mike from MJP (Hero of the Day) who had stock, realising my need and that my second day off was wasting away, a three hour round trip to Essex with the Dartford crossing done twice and I was back home with a new exhaust manifold gasket. Thank you Mike, really appreciated the assistance! (Perhaps on reflection should have tried the nearer venue in Fourways!)

 

Much to my joy I stripped everything back down again (much faster this time having done it before). Other than getting a ratchet spanner stuck on the header for a time this actually went quite smoothly. Got the old gasket off and cleaned all of the surfaces again thoroughly before dropping the new gasket in place. Not taking any chances I also smeared the back of the intake manifold ports with Loctite high temp gasket to make sure it really sealed. 

 

Back to putting everything back into place again and tightening up so that we were all good, I made sure to replace some of the copper exhaust manifold nuts with spreader plates and smaller nuts to really make sure everything was secured this time as well. Key in the ignition and moment of truth time, full choke and she fired right up, shooting to high rpm.... Choke backed off and she was idling like a dream, queue me running around my driveway with my arms in the air like a footballer celebrating... Carbs balanced and running well, so all fears confirmed and resolved. Heat shield reinstalled and ITB socks installed to get the car running on the road again. 

 

Next up was the dreaded steering coupler, taking no chances I called in the big guns and got some 300mm pliers from B&Q which gave me exactly the leverage I needed to squeeze the poly and pop the bolt back in like a dream, steering is only every so slightly off but very much reconnected. Some stainless steel cable ties to help with my exhaust hang while I sort out a more permanent central bracket and it was time for a test drive.... 

 

All I can say is wow, I let the car get up to temperate first but could tell that the car felt keen from the get go. It has a great burble at low rpm without being too intrusive. Once up to temp and with the loud pedal pushed and it just goes.... Pulls strongly to around 5k rpm however the magic really starts at 4k rpm where it just sounds asbo loud and bonkers and starts screaming! and then when you lift off it just pops and crackles and farts like a symphony orchestra. Amazingly at motorway speeds though its very refined (unlike the ind noise and rattles) Safe to say I spent 30 minutes grinning like an idiot blasting around the local roads, most definitely holding onto gears longer than Miss Daisy would have approved of just to keep ringing it out. Really quite impressed with the difference its made, certainly no restrictions in the exhaust now. 

 

At this point I really do need to give a shout out to everyone who has had input, there's been some superb advice and encouragement from the community. This is certainly the most challenging job I've completed on the car however it wouldn't have been possible without all of the help of lots of people, so thank you! I owe several people beers now... 

 

The car is out tomorrow to be dropped off to friends at a local restoration company, the handbrake cable needs changing and I've had enough of crawling around on the ground even if I could sort it. Their high lift will make short work with the great access... Ordered one replacement from Thailand for a great price and to my surprise had two turn up on different days so that was a bonus to now have a spare... 

 

Lots still to do, I'm hoping to get an airbox setup sorted out soon enough all being well, strut braces need to make their way back from San Fransisco and I'm getting desperate to upgrade the front brakes in some way however I've rambled on too long as it is already, here's some pictures from my very long day which for the second time in a row ended up finishing in the dark! 

 

So here was out big give-away as to where the problems were, no real heat going through the left bank.... 

IMG_9393 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Messy....

IMG_9403 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Clean 

IMG_9419 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Fresh! 

IMG_9420 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Reassembly

IMG_9424 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Not taking any chances... Hard to clean a load off as I realised I'd gone a bit mad and didn't want nay finding its way into the intake! 

IMG_9429 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

All good to go

IMG_9434 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Nice run underneath

IMG_9387 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

The steering coupler fixer! 

DA1D76DE-046A-4EAB-A14E-2B7EA6A0CF0C by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

The finished product! (more to come in daylight rather than floodlight)

IMG_9439 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

Edited April 5, 2019 by Woody928

[Woody928]

This says it all I guess....

 

Edited April 5, 2019 by Woody928

[grannyknot]

Congratulations Woody, the engine/exhaust sound great! There is a real crisp response to the throttle,  those first few drives after finishing are just the best.

[Woody928]

18 hours ago, grannyknot said:

Congratulations Woody, the engine/exhaust sound great! There is a real crisp response to the throttle,  those first few drives after finishing are just the best.

Cheers dude ? With the Ztherapy carbs and OS Giken lightweight flywheel it really is pukka now! Just need the cold feed airbox next to finish it off... 

I really enjoyed my drive out in it this morning.... 

Edited April 6, 2019 by Woody928

[gotta240z]

Hi Woody. Great topic and congratulations are in order for creating a beauty.

Just for information - I’m new to this forum and I also live in Surrey UK restoring a 5/70 240Z. Mine is an ex-California car but still suffered from the rust worm – but no more, as she has been in the bodyshop for a year getting a full body makeover. All the rubber, pins and things underneath have been replaced and now I’m putting all the interior back together. I spent forever refurbishing the cracked dash and now looks like new. Didn’t like the dash cap that came with the car. My car started red, then orange and I’ve had her re-sprayed in 110 red – changes colour red to orange depending on the light. Maybe the type of paint who knows.

She is stock apart from the 280ZX engine [F54 + P79] with round top carbs. Even have the early rocker cover with 240 on the top. Don’t know about the cam.

My car is in Portugal where I spend the winters. England is too cold for my old bones. Had the seats recovered here for 200 Euros and bits and pieces re-chromed  in a Victorian –style back street workshop by a little old lady in a housecoat.

Like you – I’ve had to buy most of my parts from The USA  and the prices have been pretty reasonable apart from postage and import duties. A small price to pay for a labour of love.

One day soon I’ll get my car up and running – fingers crossed. Did a lot of rewiring due to burnt wires and trying to figure out wiring mods over the last 50 years by POs.

 

I would like to thank all those contributors that have provided and continue to provide a wealth of information on the net so that us newbie’s can help keep these amazing cars on the road.