Hardway's Red Rocket 1972 240z Build Thread

[Hardway]

11 hours ago, Patcon said:

Would some or all of that slack not be taken up by the oil pressure moving the chain adjuster????

Not sure to be honest.  It is a lot of slack and the tensioner only provides so much pressure due to how much travel is allowed.

4 hours ago, 240260280 said:

There is always a lot of Datsun "spirit" in your posts.  Motivating like watching car restoration TV programs.

For the chain slop, are you turning CW at the crank (ref. standing in front of car)?  Usually the left side (ref. driver) has tension all the time when turning and when stopped so it will not flap that much until lifting pedal at high revs. The tensioner on the other side usually takes up the slop after the oil pressure is up so the slop will be less on the road... but as you say it does look like a lot of slop regardless. 

You can have a look for stretch by using the triangle cam sprocket markers at TDC.

Check the inside of the valve cover above the chain to see if it left you any gifts.

Maybe do a compression test too while you have the engine in the car before pulling it.  You may want to do more when it is out

Thank you Philip!  I like doing the work and documenting it for many reasons as I am inspired by the many other build threads on here and around the net.

You are correct, I am turning the engine clock wise and the chain would have slack when the engine rotated counter-clock wise as it backed off the rotation due to compression.  I didn't even think to look inside the valve cover.  Amazing what slips in your mind when you are "in the zone"  Next time I have it off I will take a look.  I inspected the valve train and everything looked good, no spare parts were sitting the valley of the head.

Good point on the compression check.  I already know pulling the motor will be a slippery slope as I would like to do a cam upgrade that would really take advantage of the carbs.  I also have the original engine to the car along with all the complete dual SU carb setup and air cleaner.  It needs a little work but I may try to get that engine running first before pulling the current engine.

[Captain Obvious]

13 hours ago, Hardway said:

I swapped out the throttle plates and after studying the new one some more I could see the taper on the edge was not as steep as the taper on the original.

The work you did on the throttle plate looks great. Well done!

So you think the edge taper angle on the replacement was different than the original?  Workmanship...   

Glad you went back to the original.

[boktx]

14 hours ago, Hardway said:

Thank you Philip!  Unfortunately the hits keep coming with the Red Rocket.  I decided to do a valve adjustment since they were tapping pretty good on the last test drive.  Some of the locking nuts were so tight I had to use a cheater bar to break them loose.  Thankfully they all saw things my way and everything went in to spec.  It is a stock cam so I set it stock specs. 

As I was turning the motor over by hand I kept hearing this tap but couldn't figure it out at first.  Then out of the corner of my eye I saw the timing chain tap the inside of the head.  I almost thought I was seeing things but my fear was realized when I moved it with my hand.  It is stretched for sure and warrants a replacement sooner than later.  Luckily I have a new chain kit in the box and all the gaskets already from the lime green Z when I thought about doing it on that one.  I will pull the engine to do it as I would like to clean everything up, possibly paint the engine bay, and inspect the clutch.  For now, here is a video.  Feel free to weep with me.

When you replace the timing chain, I'll strongly recommend new bolts for the front timing cover / water pump.

I had that cover on and off 3 or 4 times when I rebuilt my engine last year because I broke a water pump bolt, then after removing it, cleaning it all up, and removing the broken bolt, I reassembled and broke one of the timing cover bolts. Just buy a new bolt kit and save yourself the headache and cursing!

I also ended up putting heliacoil inserts in each of the 4 holes on the bottom of the timing cover since 2 of them stripped out when I installed my oil pan (2 more times removing the front cover). 

I promise I was gentile throughout and hand threaded things in before trying to torque them to spec! I think Dad and I messed up those threads 20+ years ago when we last replaced the timing chain.

[Hardway]

This evening was very productive.  I installed the new rebuilt caliper and hose after work.  The old components came off with little fuss and in the grand scheme of things they did not look bad.  I know the car has sat off and on for the past few years and either the caliper was sticking or the hose was swelled up inside creating a blockage.  I bought the caliper at O'Reilly auto parts for $29.99 and the hose was $17.99.  They were the only store that could get me a caliper in a day or two.  They are the same price on Amazon but I prefer to buy local when I can in the event I have an issue.  A friend of mine gave me a new set of pads so they were free.  When I took everything apart there were some nice stainless steel shims in between the pads and the pistons.  I have never seen this type of shim before but I took a few minutes with some fine steel wool to clean them up.  The before and after is night day.

Everything was reassembled and lubed where it needed to be with some anti-seize.  Most people would have pulled the rotor and had it turned but despite how the rotor looks it was not grooved and I really did not want to mess with the bearings to pull it.

A quick bleed session confirmed everything was sealed up so the wheels went back on for a test drive.  The new caliper and hose did the trick as it tracked and stopped straight while driving it.  Tonight marked a major milestone for the car as it is now at a point where I feel confident taking it up to highway speeds and to this weekend's Cars and Coffee event.  Its been almost 3 months since I bought the car and many projects to get it here.  However, it has all been worth it as the car is a blast to drive!  The triple Dellortos, ZX 5spd w/Hurst shifter, the LSD, and full suspension make it a great car to toss around and wind out getting on to entrance ramps.  I drove it so much I had to stop and put some more gas in it.  Seemed like the perfect opportunity for a few photos!

[240260280]

Get the spoke wheels that are for sale on  this site then put some Ferrari Badges on it!  Mess with their heads!

 

Looks beautiful!

[grannyknot]

Looking good,  where are you going with this one? Are you going to give it the full treatment like the last 240 or just a rip around car? A deep paint buff and it will be a real looker.

 

Edited December 5, 2017 by grannyknot

[Captain Obvious]

Wow. That thing looks great. For three months of work and you've got something to that point already. That's fantastic.

BTW - Those anti-squeal shims look just like all the ones I've ever seen. You've never seen that style before? That's the only style I've ever seen. All my hands on experience is with 260s and later. Maybe that's a later design?

[siteunseen]

I wanted to wait before getting mine buffed until I was through tinkering, then I realized I'll always be doing something to it so I went ahead and had the buff done.  I lost my incognito, now I'm driving an OSHA orange warning sign but I like it.

 

[Hardway]

Thank you for the compliments guys!  I would never put any Ferrari badges on it but I think a set Borrani spoke wheels would look killer!  Unfortunately a set probably cost more than what I paid for the car.  The wheels currently on the car are cool but they also date it somewhat to the 90's or early 2000's.  For now, I have no plans to replace them as they are in excellent condition and will polish up well.

That is interesting on the shims.  I honestly can't remember what my previous 240z's had in the way of brake shims but i do not remember them looking like that.  Might be later shims like you said.

My long term plans for the car are still TBD.  I don't see myself doing a restoration of any kind on it but at some point it will need a paint job.  Before that there is some rust that needs to be addressed in the rockers as well as the holes in the door that are currently covered by red duct tape (I mean speed tape)  Silver is the original color but the red is really growing on me.  Even on the short shakedown runs it turns heads at almost every stop light.  I am hoping some careful buffing and polishing will give me a year or so of life out of it.  My goal is to have a fun Z car to rip around in but also shows well at meets and informal shows.  I am certainly achieving the fun goal right now and that alone makes me very happy.

Moving in to 2018 the Z will receive a RT diff mount, new steering rack gators, headliner repair/replace, odds & ends, and a lot more cleaning.  I am going to try and source a better condition original front bumper and guards as I like the stock look but there is no rush on this.  I would also like to have the seats recovered in some black leather with some nice stitching and vents so they look more vintage.  The velour screams 1990 but in their defense the seats are super comfy and supportive.  If and when the engine comes out to address the sloppy timing chain I would like strip everything out and paint the engine bay as it is currently a mix of black, red, and silver.  And the list goes on and on.

[sweatybetty]

4 hours ago, Hardway said:

  I am hoping some careful buffing and polishing will give me a year or so of life out of it. 

after that year, it will be "patina"  it only adds to the value

[siteunseen]

59 minutes ago, sweatybetty said:

after that year, it will be "patina"  it only adds to the value

I know this old girl we call Patina.  

[Hardway]

Last Sunday I officially waived my personal banner of "Mission Accomplished" as I made it out to the final Cars and Coffee of 2017 in the Z.  The trip there and back was drama free and the Z got its own fair share of lookers.  It was great to hang out with Mike W. and our buddy Kyle McKenzie.  The previous owner of the car was there too and was happy to see it out, taking in all the work I had done, and being enjoyed by its new owner.  Once the sun came out it got packed fast with lots of foot traffic.  My apologies for the poor picture quality as it was nearly impossible to get a picture of our row without people passing by.  My goal for 2018 is to start using my DSLR with a glare hood to get better pictures.  For now, phase 1 is complete and I am making plans for phase 2.

Edited December 16, 2017 by Hardway