bacarl

I wouldn't be surprised if that was a faux gated shifter. The ad states it has a 700R4, and in the pics the shifter is shown in what would be the third gear gate. I would guess that the shifter moves back and forth in the 3rd and 4th gear gates as it shifts from Park to Drive. I don't see the park lock solenoid release button anywhere, though.

Man that looks great! They must have a hell of a big oven, good grief! What's the grate thing in the sixth pic?

Great project. You have good taste in vehicles! The 240Z and FJ40 are a couple of my favorite classics, along with early 911s. Maybe one day I'll own one of each Do you have a more detailed build thread going anywhere for the FJ40? Looking forward to frame/body pics!

Oh cool, glad you posted this. I just bought a similar one from Blipshift.com Unfortunately it didn't occur to me to post it up here until after their sale period ended. Blipshift only sells one design at a time and this one isn't for sale anymore but it's a cool site to check from time to time for new designs. They have stickers too! I kinda like the Z logo on the teespring shirt a little better than the blipshift shirt's "cloud" logo...

Almost forgot my most recent addition. I love the hubcaps and have no intention of getting rid of them, but I love Panasports on Z's too, like so many others... And since I have two sets of wheels for my other car (granted they're for summer and winter tires) I decided that having two sets for the Z is totally reasonable This is one of my new-to-me, NOS Panasports test fitted on the car. I found them on eBay; the seller had just purchased them from an estate sale and was selling them for $700. They're 15x6 et+10. I would have preferred a 7" width, but I hadn't seen a +10 offset before, which is great because I want to avoid fender rub issues. I don't know how long they've been stored for, but they've never been mounted. My plan is to keep the steel wheels, which are refreshed and powdercoated, for an original look, and get some sticky tires for the Panasports. The trouble is finding a 15" performance tire anywhere close to the stock diameter, so I'll probably have to use a smaller tire.

And finally, some shots I took just yesterday of the car all back together and actually running and driving. Here are a couple interior shots to add to the thread. The PO had the steering wheel wrapped in a vinyl cover so I'd assumed the original wheel was worn. I was super excited when I removed the vinyl and saw what good condition the wheel is in. Dash is pretty good with just one small crack So that's that! Unfortunately my next projects are somewhat uncharted territory (for me, anyways): the engine. I think over this winter I'll rebuild the flat tops to see if that helps with driveability before I change over to SUs. Of course I've read a lot about how bad the flat tops are, but as was stated earlier in this thread, they should be adequate if tuned properly, and are an interesting orignal part of my car. I no longer have stalling/hot start issues, or dieseling/run on issues, and all I did was change the fuel filter, fill up with 93 oct, and add a can of Seafoam. They're "sputtery" though, especially on start-up, and the car sure smells rich, so I'm sure some TLC would be appreciated. I'd also like to get the seats re-done this winter. I haven't decided whether I'll tackle that myself or look for an upholstery shop to help me out.

I don't have any good in-progress pics of completed rear suspension parts, or reassembly, but here are some of the final product. Rear corner with refreshed brake drum Rebuilt rear brakes Rear suspension powdercoated and rebuilt. I had to just paint the mustache bar because I retained its original inner bushings. And a couple of the front put back together

I can't believe it's been 10 months since I updated this thread, but here's an update on where I'm at with the car. Over the winter I reassembled the front suspension and started in on the rear. I took a lot of photos to help me remember how things go together, but most of them aren't very good for showing progress updates... Here's the front suspension going back together and the rear coming apart. I spent the next few months gradually disassembling, cleaning and powdercoating each piece of the rear suspension. Here are a few pretty undramatic disassembly/before pics. Sandblasted rear brake backing plate Before/After of a powdercoated bracket, pretty exciting stuff... I was planning on changing to new springs, so just for fun I experimented with a new powder and did the old springs in a Datsun blue color. At least this way they'll look pretty sitting on my shelf! I'll get some shots of the completed rear suspension and continue my update a little later...

Just remembered this thread and wanted to follow up with my solution. Chas was correct, the pistons had stuck in the bore of the MC. They did not pop back when I tapped the MC with a screwdriver, but once I removed it from the car I banged the MC vertically on the floor a few times, and heard the pistons snap back to their nominal position. It took a while to sort out some other issues with lines/leaks/bleeding, but the system is working now and feels pretty good. Unfortunately, I failed to check my reaction disc when I had the MC off the booster... also I did not adjust the pushrod; I learned about these things after buttoning everything back up, of course Currently, the pedal is quite soft and lacks feedback for maybe the first 30-40% of travel, then the brakes kick in and I get good feedback and stopping power. I think the brakes start dragging slightly during that first 40%, so it doesn't feel as though I'm using up free travel due to bad pushrod adjustment or a missing reaction disc. Can anyone with a stock brake system chime in on how the pedal feels through its travel?

I'm glad Zed cleared up the issue of hydraulic vs. gas shocks. All conventional dampers are hydraulic. They use a piston moving through a fluid (oil) to generate a damping force. The faster the piston moves through the fluid, the greater the generated force. That's why you can articulate the damper by hand - all you're doing is slowly moving the piston through the fluid. This does not indicate the shock is bad. You wouldn't be able to cycle the shock by hand very quickly because the damping force generated would be too high. The "gas-charge" also works the way Zed explained. Imagine the piston whipping up and down through the fluid as you drive over a rough surface. The oil would cavitate, or get loaded up with air bubbles, if not for the high pressure gas charge in the shock. The "secondary" effect of raising ride height is because that pressurized gas acts like a little balloon inside the shock and adds a little bit of spring rate. So you're right that your ride height raised a little back when you installed your gas charged Bilsteins with stock springs. Zed made one comment that I do want to correct - he said that the only decent bolt-in shock available these days is the KYB. This was the case until recently, but now that Tokicos are available again, add those to the list. Tokico Illuminas are adjustable at the top of the shock rod, meaning their adjustment is accessible just by popping the hood, or opening the hatch, and twisting a little knob with a screwdriver. It's super easy and neat to be able adjust your damping almost on the fly. The Tokico HPs are non-adjustable but they also offer a good drop-in option. I just finished putting my car back together with Eibach progressive-rate lowering springs and second hand Tokico Illuminas. If I were doing it again now, I'd buy brand new Illuminas since they're available again, and I'd get Vogtland springs because they're a linear rate instead of progressive. This would lower the car by a conservative amount, and not have the odd lower-in-the-rear issue that Eibachs seem to have.

Haha, siteunseen actually has some really good points. If you're a big guy and you're used to a Grand Marquis, (or even if you're a small guy and you're used to a Grand Marquis!) a Z-car is going to take some adjustment. It's narrow, with a low roof, low floor, and low h-point. But settling that point is nothing a test drive wouldn't decide. Rain is another good point. My car leaks; I'm sure a lot of old S30's do. And whether it leaks inside or not, they don't hold up to water/corrosion like modern cars.

I have not come across any Bilsteins during my searching for shocks. I ended up with Tokico Illuminas I had to source from a private party since they weren't being sold new at the time I was looking (about one year ago). You may be able to find used Bilsteins somewhere but as far as I know they haven't been available for years. I also found that all available aftermarket springs, while stiffer, will lower the car somewhat from stock, which won't help you. What's the width and offset of your slots?

Sounds interesting, any pics of what you're referring to?

Which Carbotech compound are you running, Fred? I went with Carbotech "1521" front pads and MSA's rear shoes and so far the brakes feel good with no noise. I need to bleed more air out and wear the pads more before I can really comment on stopping power or dust, but initial bite does feel good, even with a pretty squishy pedal.

Looks like you're right... You didn't buy this car, did you, jtmader??

I added too much oil when I installed my cartridges recently and as the strut tips this way and that, and the oil warms and moves it tends to leak out a bit, puddling in the lower spring seat, then eventually leaking through the drain hole and down the side of the strut tube, making a mess. I'd follow John Coffey's advice, or only add a very small amount (like 1 ounce). You're correct that the gland nut doesn't seal.

Great write-up Hardway, thanks. Always enjoy reading your stuff as it's well written and loaded with good photos. I know this was a couple years ago now and your '72 has been replaced, but how had everything been holding up? Also why did you opt to buy the covers and foam separately?

Blue's right, 1 is softest, but if those Illuminas are 20+ years old, they may not have much damping to offer anymore. If that's the case the car would feel floaty over larger undulations in the road, but harsh and crashy over impacts and smaller bumps. The role of the shocks is to 1) control body motions that would otherwise go undamped and 2) absorb energy that comes crashing into the body structure. Having Illuminas is neat because you can play with their settings and see what feels/handles the best. For starters, crank them up to 5 and see if you feel a difference. Also try the "bounce test" on setting 1 and on setting 5 and note any differences. This is simply where you push on the front end or rear end of the car a couple times to get it bouncing, then let go and note how many oscillations occur before the shocks arrest the motion. I forget the rule of thumb but you don't want the car to bounce more than 1-1.5 times; this should change depending on setting 1 vs. setting 5, if the shocks are still in working condition. Another thing to keep in mind is that cutting the springs increases the spring rate by some amount, making them "stiffer". If you have cut stock springs and worn out shocks, the ride will likely be harsh. It's worth mentioning that springs don't really "wear out" even after long periods of time (dampers do, though). I would bet that since your coils are cut, your stock springs are "stiffer" than when new, even after all the years. Lastly, I just put my car back on the ground the other day after a full suspension rebuild with Eibach progressive springs and Illuminas and I can attest that the rear does sit a little lower than the front, visually at least. It is noticeable to me (I'm pretty anal), but I'm not likely to hack anything up to remedy the situation. Here's a pic of how the car sits, although this angle doesn't show the ride height difference all that well. It's fairly subtle, maybe 0.5" difference in fender gap. Play with the shock settings and let us know if you feel a change, or if the car bounces differently between the settings. Forgot to mention, sway bars add spring rate too, although unless they're monster bars, it probably isn't significant. Bigger bars, cut springs, worn out shocks, and old tires could definitely all work together to wreck your ride.

Paint??

What a cool project! The interior looks great with the wood trim, etc. Were the seats custom upholstered?

Also interested in 1973 front and back, mine are pretty badly worn. I've read some tips for cleaning up the layers of oxidized rubber, but I'd love to replace with new if some were available. edit: I'd be interested in the front vertical strips as well as the horizontal corner strips; my verticals have holes from a previously installed overrider bar.

Ingenious, nice work and great results.

How about switching from Dot 3 to Dot 5 - any special requirement or flush process necessary? Also, since Dot 5 isn't hygroscopic, does that mean you can leave an open bottle on the shelf and it'll still be good to use in the future?

Good info, thanks again! I'll try the screwdriver tap but I think I'll get a new MC on order to be prepared.

Thanks for chiming in, Chas. We thought it might have something to do with the pistons stuck at the end of travel. If that's the case, are the piston(s) hanging up in some grime, and the springs can't push them back? Because the pedal moves freely and you can hear motion up in the MC so I think the rod that the pedal actuates is moving. If they travel that far can they become permanently damaged by the pitting and grime in the bore? Or are you just staying that I should disassemble and clean, and I'll be in good shape?