Hello from across the pond! Searching for a 240z

[Woody928]

Well there's more news, again... The car ran beautifully over the bank holiday weekend up to Donington and Silverstone, very pleased with how it's been behaving of late. It was nice to finally show you what we've been up to in the flesh.

 

In the name of progress today I finally managed to service the car with new oil and plugs in preparation for a trip over to BD Engineering in Kent for some Rolling Road tuning to dial the car in properly, see where we've got to and understand how best to drive the car. The car has also just ticked over 84,000 miles albeit I doubt that number really has any meaning these days, triggers broom and all!

 

The nice surprise what that Andy still had a record of my last run back in April 2017 when the Head Gasket pissed coolant all over his floor and we had to abort his run so I actually have a bench mark of the last setup which I thought was lost. At the time of the last visit, the car was running original carbs, old exhaust setup, K&N filters and obviously a leaking head gasket.

 

The scary thing is that it's taken me two years to get back however so much has changed, even Andy noting the gearing and road speed change due to the 5 speed box and 3.9 Diff. We've dropped 20mph at the same rpm from the last visit for starters!

 

So interestingly having dialled it all in the first run actually provided the same peak power and a bit more torque but no major differences in terms of power, the midrange had however vastly improved. Having left Andy to work his magic he identified that one of the carbs was sticking slightly behind the other, the needles were set too low, two spark plugs were incorrect and advanced the timing slightly.

 

With all of this done the final run gave us 149bhp and 162 ft lbs peak power at just over 5100 rpm with some nice smooth curves to match. You can certainly see where the cam and exhaust kick in at 4k rpm and hear it. Short of engine work or a triple setup we've maximised what we've got and its really lively to drive, I was hoping for around 150bhp so quite happy and now know to drive it to around 5k rpm for best performance albeit it will happily go up to 5500 rpm.

 

Certainly a few hours and £165 well spent in my eyes. Even with the drive over, the RR time and a little hooning around at home for testing purposes of course  the car still produced a healthy 26.4 mpg, so very happy just ahead of our trip to Spa.

 

For those that don't know the current spec is currently a Stock L26, Schneider Stage 2 Cam, Ztherpay Carbs, Zstory Raceport Exhaust, Custom Airbox, OS Giken 4.7KG Flywheel and upgraded Mishimoto cooling system with Spa Fans. 

 

Dyno Graphs and Video of the final as follows:

0A5FA893-54FE-4343-AD19-E15234B149F5 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Comparison, run from 2017 with old setup, first run tonight and then final run after setup

IMG_0043 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Final Curve

IMG_0047 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Numbers Breakdown

IMG_0044 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Power at the Wheels, Peak 118.2bhp

IMG_0046 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Video of my final power run

 

In other news my newly refurbished brake callipers should be arriving tomorrow so all being well I just need to find time to fit it all now, this car really is all coming together finally! Fingers crossed this can be done before Spa, I just may chicken out of swapping the Master Cylinder out until our return in the event that something goes sideways!

Edited May 8, 2019 by Woody928

[Woody928]

Well here we go again, lots more to report and I really need to control myself with spending on this car!

 

The car was selected and displayed with Petrolicious for their first ever UK meet at Bicester Heritage, it certainly kept in very good company within the main site. I’ll also admit that I was very excited by this as their channel is the reason why I ended up buying my 240Z so it was a big deal for me. I’ve seen some photos of the car from the day but I’m sure there’s more to be found. Great to catch up with several club members and we had awesome weather for it.

 

Finally our new brake package has come together and now been fitted up, I need to start with a huge shout out to Iamatomman (Gary) for sorting me out in this regard. I’ve been searching for a long time to get the right solution to this element of the build, I’ve not been a fan of the shouty willwood solutions and equally not convinced that the Hilux setup was up to the task with its more limited ‘performance pad’ options for a 4x4 and weight. Bring in the perfect solution in my eyes, R32 GTR Sumitomo Brake Calipers with 296mm vented disks.

 

Gary’s made custom titanium brackets and re-drilled the standard GTR disks so that these bolt straight up to stock 240Z hubs. As you’d expect with a GTR, the brake pad choice is phenomenal so we’ve put on some Porterfield R4S pads designed for fast road and track use. These so far seem to be superb with great bite from cold and just get better the more heat you put into them, the only downside as you’d expect with any performance pad is a little more dust with enthusiastic use.

 

With the car only weighing in at 1000KG this setup is hugely over spec’d and gives massive amounts of confidence, particularly with modern traffic.

 

Having got the kit from Gary, sourced a set of callipers off of ebay and refurbished then with thanks to Big Red, picked up the pads from Porterfield and refurbished the brake fitting kit I got with the brakes to save a bit of money, we were good to go. Doing my usual with any European trip looming I decided to fit these last Monday evening after work on the driveway with our scheduled departure of Thursday morning. What could possibly go wrong!

 

As expected a few headaches, 6 hours, a packet of crisps, numerous cups of tea later everything was fitted up with the assistance of LED floodlights at midnight. Test drive was revealing a very spongey pedal however that was a problem for a new day. Certainly had some fun removing the original brake dust shields (now too small for our big disks anyway), removing the old disks and hubs and wrestling everything into place.

 

At the same time with rain scheduled for Spa and knowing how lethal our tyres are in the wet (even if very fun and childish in the dry) I decided it was time to bite the bullet and replace these with something deserving of the rest of the car. Finally we had a set of Yokohama AD08R tyres on their way to be fitted before the trip, in a last minute dash I managed to get the brakes re-bled and working, tyres fitted, filled with nitrogen, booked a trip to Edinburgh and flew out all on Tuesday leaving last minute packing and preparation for 9.30pm on Wednesday night before we left. I’m very relieved that I decided to leave the stock MC installed for now with the time I had available, while the car needs it and the pedal has a little too much travel, this remains a headache for another day as I still have no idea as to how to properly adjust the rod to it.

 

We had an amazing time out in Spa, with the car covering just over 1000 miles in less than a week. Great company and tour guide from Tony, being shown some nice backroads closer to Spa which could be enjoyed away from the Motorway (even drove the old track). What a circuit Spa is, the elevation changes were fairly breath taking. I can see why it’s a bit of a Mecha for motorsport fans and definitely the most exciting circuit I’ve visited and driven to date. As hoped and with the car running so well we got a track session for Saturday evening however much to our disappointment it was plagued by safety cars while a wall was being rebuilt. Unfinished business and a return visit one day I’m sure…

 

The car felt really keen and we’re super impressed with the new tyres, for a road tyre they really hang on through the corners and still slide nicely at the limits of traction. Less childish behaviour can be had with the trade-off of superb grip on the road. We could really push people through corners and drive around them however in a straight line we were still left lacking and wanting more with almost everyone pulling away. Certainly some drag racing going on against Peugeot 205’s. Thoughts are turning to building an engine with approx. 200 bhp flywheel that revs happily to 7000prm without spending the earth….

 

The trip didn’t leave the car unscathed though and we picked up a big stone chip on day one of the trip which we watched expand all trip until we got home. I’m relieved to say that despite it having spidered outwards, Kenneth from Autoglass has saved the windscreen with a resin filler yesterday. Quite scary seeing how big it had really got when he applied some pressure to it. I’ve also got rubber trims turning up to try and reduce some wind noise and make the car a little more comfortable for longer journeys.

 

These cars are never really finished but I feel as though the whole package has really moved on, particularly when I compare it to the sloppy driving experience the car started with…

 

IMG_0135 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

6D62364D-FE32-4CE8-8041-18E19804611E by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0123 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0127 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0141 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0163 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0144 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0167 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

New tread pattern looking alot meaner:

IMG_0186 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0191 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG_0303 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Getting a little dusty

IMG_0285 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Think we'll need to take a trip to the French Riviera next

Version 2 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[EuroDat]

Thats a neat brake conversion. 

I see the big bore master cylinder and parts to convert the discs, but no parts for the rear. What did you do to maintain balance with the rear and what is your set-up for the rear? You could probably remove the balance valve internals altogether now you have so much braking power on the front.

I'm running porterfield R4-S pads and shoes on a standard set-up and very happy with the results. The car is only used for street driving.

PS: The air intake mod looks great. First time I have seen that on a SU set-up.

[grannyknot]

Congrats on that brake conversion, if Gary ever puts together a brake package I'm sure it would generate a lot of orders.  No boot on the ball joint, are you not concerned about premature wear from road sand?  I'm a big fan of Yokohama, will have to check out the AD08R.

[Woody928]

14 hours ago, EuroDat said:

Thats a neat brake conversion. 

I see the big bore master cylinder and parts to convert the discs, but no parts for the rear. What did you do to maintain balance with the rear and what is your set-up for the rear? You could probably remove the balance valve internals altogether now you have so much braking power on the front.

I'm running porterfield R4-S pads and shoes on a standard set-up and very happy with the results. The car is only used for street driving.

PS: The air intake mod looks great. First time I have seen that on a SU set-up.

So I'm still running the drums at the rear and the stock proportioning valve, so far it seems to be working very well. I can tell the drums are still kicking in as after some spirited driving through Belgium there was a good amount of brake dust built up on the rears as well as the fronts.... Huge amount more power there, I just need to get the bigger MC installed! 

They really are a fabulous pad, heard lots of goof things before but its the first time I've actually used them. 

Thanks ? Funnily enough I said the same before I did it, carbs need cold air whether they're SU's or Triples afterall.... 

 

11 hours ago, grannyknot said:

Congrats on that brake conversion, if Gary ever puts together a brake package I'm sure it would generate a lot of orders.  No boot on the ball joint, are you not concerned about premature wear from road sand?  I'm a big fan of Yokohama, will have to check out the AD08R.

Cheers dude, well he's started selling the disks and brackets on UK eBay for potential buyers. If anyones interested then I can put them in touch.... 

Hard one, I've thought about it both ways. If I cover them then I can trap moisture and grime in them, if I leave them open then they could get covered in road dirt... Not sure I can win either way really, I just cover them in ACF50 every once in a while to try and protect them! 

Honestly couldn't recommend them highly enough, I wouldn't use anything else now ?

[Patcon]

1 hour ago, Woody928 said:

Cheers dude, well he's started selling the disks and brackets on UK eBay for potential buyers. If anyones interested then I can put them in touch.... 

Can you post up a link to an ad? Or maybe his Ebay username?

[Woody928]

On 5/26/2019 at 1:02 AM, Patcon said:

Can you post up a link to an ad? Or maybe his Ebay username?

Just looked and its not on eBay right now, however this is the guy. Happy to put you in touch through Facebook if you'd like:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/garymann69?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

[Patcon]

4 hours ago, Woody928 said:

Just looked and its not on eBay right now, however this is the guy. Happy to put you in touch through Facebook if you'd like:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/garymann69?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

Thanks for that. I added his listed item in my watch list

I'm not ready yet, but I like to bookmark things for when I am. Otherwise I can't find them later or remember which thread it was in

Edited May 27, 2019 by Patcon

[Woody928]

So I had the car out at the weekend, went to Brooklands on Saturday with my mate in his C7 and then on to brands hatch on Sunday for the Historic racing having been out for a spirited drive in the morning. I’m pleased to report that the car was leaving a 240bhp mx5 turbo and the Corvette behind through the corners, as you’d expect though they both reeled me in as soon as the roads straightened up however it was surprising most people for a middle aged lady and well and truly holding its own down B roads.

 

Another exciting discovery was that the exhaust is shooting flames on overrun and on some up and downshifts particularly with rev matching. People were enjoying the sound of the exhaust from several back in the convoy as well. Rather scarily, we’ve covered 1300 miles since it was serviced only a few weeks ago and need to up the insurance mileage to see us through the year….

 

Finally after being driven mad by wind and cabin noise all the way to Spa and back I invested in some draft excluded which has been installed onto the door frames to create a positive seal all the way around the door frame and eliminate all wind noise! I’m sure the purists will be up in arms however I took inspiration from the 280Z door seal and its works so a £4 fix from eBay. I’m now moving onto stopping more car rattles and shakes and soundproofing to add some more comfort for longer journeys where possible….

 

Rubbish photos but before and after:

IMG-0513 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

IMG-0516 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

 

Quick stop at Brooklands:

DSC-1620 by Mark Woodrow, on Flickr

[240260280]

Shock carbs have an over-run air mix valve to dilute the system and squelch burning beyond the chamber.