Gav240z

I'm finally a professional Z car nut

Ok this was a pain in the bum of a job so here's how I went about it in order to help others who might get stuck or need help in future. First issue for me was undoing the bolt that connects the control arm bush to the crossmember. It was really tight on both sides so tight I rounded one side of the bolt. Solution to use vice grips and pry it off. I also use a long pipe over my rachet to give me extra torque when turning it as it was very tight. with that done I removed the other side from the strut where the ball joints are. I replaced the ball joints on both sides while I was at it. That's fairly straight forward I can elaborate for some who might need help but for now it's the bushes. Ok so I got the control arm out. The old bush? Well this is what I did, and I emphasise to be carefull. I soaked the bush in fuel for a while and placed a brick and cement sheeting under it because there both non flamable. I poured some fuel into the top part of the brick where there's a gap and sat the control arm ontop of it The cement sheeting went underneath. I stood back and lit a match and woof it lit up. I grabbed a pair of gloves and when it finished burning I took it to my vice and slapped it out with a big hammer. No problems came out nicely . Note I could have used a propane torche but the fuel ran out so this was the next best thing. After I got those out I tried to see how the hell I'd fit the new bushings and thought not gonna happen so I took them down to be pressed in by driveshaft shop. With those done I had to put it back in the car??? How??? there way too bit and trying to hammer it back in wasn't working and I didn't wanna beat up the control arm. So I used a piece of wood and the car jack and applied grease to the crossmember and bushes to help it slide in. Still no go they were way too big. and it was just lifting the car aswell as damaging the urethane bushing. Solution? I have a grinder that's the same as using a file and I filed it down a bit on each side so that it was a tiny bit thinner keeping it consistant and even on both sides aswell as trying not to ruin the urethane. I used the jack the piece of wood as protection for the control arm and jacked it up into the crossmember. It wasn't an easy fit still but it finally slapped into place. The rest was just reassembly if anyone has any questions or suggestions let me know I'd usually not file the bush down but it was really a tight fit.

Looks like the Camera is already paying itself off. I've been thinking about getting 1 too and now i think it's a very good idea. Afterall a picture is a 1000 words. If you don't mind me asking how much did you get it for? and what brand is it seeing as were both in AUS might give me a good idea as to what to pay for a camera of that quality.

I need help as I'm a bit stuck with replacing my front control arm bushes. Ok so I've managed to get the old one out by burning it out so that's fine. The problem is the new ones I've got. The package says front lower control arm bushes. I suspect however there the rear ones. One has a label saying front the other rear but I believe the rear control arm has two bushes on it. So I think they've given me the wrong ones. As I understand the front has only one main bush that connects to the cross member. I need the rear ones anyway so that's not a problem. I have included a picture of what I'm trying to replace so you know what I'm doing. Picture is thanks to EricB's picture gallery.

Hi guys I recently aquired a nice 240z but I didn't notice that until after I bought it that there were one or two small things in the paint work that frustrate me. It's typical until you own it you don't notice the small things. Anyway the problem is the bonnet mainly. It has faded a bit in the sun as Red Paint will. It's nothing big but the rest of the car is really quite red even the roof. I polished it recently and it made it less noticeable (not noticable to the untrained eye). I was considering a cut n' polish but it strips a layer of paint and I feel that it will just start to fade again later. (I've had 3 red cars before). There's also some water marks(little white marks) in the paint in odd spots the bonnet and roof mainly. I wanna know how I should deal with these aswell polishing didn't get them out. I was thinking of just getting the bonnet a light respray as the rest of the car is still very red and I don't think it would look uneven. Anyway ideas guys please :classic: I will provide pics soon in the day light for now check my gallery I think it has a pic of my car.

Thanks for the info I don't think I'll ever use Armour All again after reading your informative response. I'd heard others mention it's unhealthy for your dash and I thought it was just skeptical nonsense (excuse my spelling). It does make your dash wet and look healthy but your right it requires constant reapplication. I'll invest my money in a good sunshade for now. Anyway that aside I'll go for the other products your recommend.

I'm 20 and I've owned 4 cars already. 3 of which were Zeds, I was tempted to own a Celica a Commodore and heaps of other cheap crappy cars due to friends putting pressure on you and having a car written off and thinking I'd get something cheaper I bought a Toyota Corolla SX so I could save money on fuel but it balanced out on expenses like CV's, Exhaust system, brakes etc. list goes on. The newer cars are built cheaply as you can imagine if they save just $10 on 1 car and make a 3000 cars they save $30,000 Dollars so cutting costs is a big thing for car companies. It's tempting to get into nice new cars with bolt on mods fuel injection and all the other candy but it's also expensive and I don't know about you guys but when I fix a problem on my car I'm very proud and since these cars are so easy to work on it's even better. Everywhere I drive my Z I get people staring at it. Just last night I had 3 people in a Taxi ask me a million questions and tell me they really like it. Then I had another clown in the city trying to lure me into his game and run his car not that I did I know I would spank a 4 cylinder 2.0L engine with my cammed 6 that sounds like sex at 5,500rpm. Besides my girlfriend wouldn't let me . I suggest you drive one of these cars you would like to own take a few for a test drive you'll get back in your Z and go what was I thinking???? I know cause I've done it. Gav

Sorry wrong picture before same file name you see.

Wrong Picture Sorry

Mike don't use Australian Slang I really hate it. I'm Australian and I do not talk like that I assure you. I hate Aussie Slang it's awfull and what I can't stand more is when you American's try to do an Australian acent in a film. Anyone who's seen Mission Impossible 2 will understand. You probably feel the same about red neck talk. Gav

R180 and R200 are just the Diff code. There are many variations to my knowledge on each one. The R180 was found in early 240z's and the R200 in later Z's as far as I know. I also heard the first gen Zed's early 240z's had the diff set slightly too far forward and causes unusual wear I am wondering about this as I have a 72 mdl and wanna know if this might effect me????

I need to adjust my handbrake so that when I pull it up it doesn't need to be lifted up really high before it will hold the car still. The Haynes manual is hopeless because it tells me to adjust things that I don't know since the diagrams don't label what it's telling me. Anyway I need a detailed description on where to adjust from and how to do it? Pictures would be the best if anyone has the time if not I'll post pictures from the manual and see if anyone can help from there... Thanks heaps.

Do not buy that 260z unless you can see the entire shell and can see inside the doors and under the floors etc... If I had the time again I'd buy a 240z for a couple of hundred dollars and make sure the chassis was good not worry about the doors and panels there the cheap part. I'd go from there new everything for around 12k I'd have a nice 240z on the road and not have to worry about rust for another 30 years.

I just read about control arm bushes but I have a slightly different problem XYZ you seem to know a bit about them from the last post I read. Anyway my problem is I have to replace the front 2 and rear 2 but the front ones are the ones I'm doing first. The problem is I can't get them out. I've jacked the car up and I'm trying to undo the bolt that runs horizontally across. I'm using a rachet and I was really trying to undo it but it slipped and has slightly rounded the bolt. The other side can be done I spose but I don't wanna round that one. I used some WD40 and tried to get it inside the bolt to encourage it to loosen up. I used a longer rachet for more torque but there is limited space as to where I can turn the thing... Anyone else got any suggestions I really don't wanna take it to someone I always regret not having done what I set to achieve. Thanks in advance.

I've read about all those engine swaps being done before. Except the SR20 I'm not sure if anyone has done it and I wouldn't suggest it as the 4 cylinder might upset the 240z's beautiful handling. Most do a RB20DET swap as it's cheap and easier and powerfull. Gav,

Hi guys I recently aquired a nice 240z. It is running an L28 F54 bottom end with E88 head and ZX valves. I've noticed on startup in the mornings it seems to burn at bit of blue smoke indicating some oil. I was wondering if the most likely cause would be valve stem seals or hopefully not oil rings. I haven't done a compression test yet but I do plan on doing it. The car had been sitting a couple of years with some minor use here and there. As I understand the valve stem seals are rubber arn't they? I've never really replaced/adjusted anything internally on an engine any deeper than the valve cover. However I'm eager to learn more about engine and plan on one day building an L28 turbo. Any advice recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Oh and the oil lever hasn't seemed to drop much either. I will keep checking it though. Gav:classic:

Will do thanks for the reply