FuFu'Z 240Z Project! 56K warning... too slow.

[fufu]

Just  checked the date on my receipt  bought the bumper in 2009 oopppss   ( bought the front spoiler that's sitting in the shed 2 years ago ) . At the time of purchase front bar was available with or without mounting brackets . Was asked to put up pics back then but I'm not that clever lol...Will put up pics of quick shift kit when I can work out how to do it hopefully soon ..

 

May i suggest you try photobucket.com as a place to dump all your photos. From there you can copy and paste an [img ] link, which photobucket automatically produces, and dump that link into your posts. Very quick and easy. Photobucket also does the resizing when uploading the images. So preset those and your good to go.

[fufu]

Update:

 

Car is finally done at my friends panel beater. A few things got in the way such as a few motorbikes which had to take priority as it is leading up to riding weather.

 

Issue 1: If you've been following closely I had a slight rubbing issue with the rim/tire combo that i was running. This has now been sorted. It was as simple as tightening the tension control rod. Good thing this was spotted now rather than 20 kms down the road when the strut takes off whilst driving. Very annoyed that this was found. It basically meant durring the time the car was at a place close to Geelong, when it had its front rack reconditioned. It wasn't fitted back properly. DANGEROUS!!!!

 

Upon tightening of the tension control rod the whole strut can be seen being pulled back about an inch. Which totally cleared the turning circle with the new rim/tire combo.

 

Issue 2: I had the doors taken apart and rust proofed on the inside as this step was missing from the first panel beater. At the same time i had the doors aligned and window mechanisms aligned to work properly or open and close properly.

 

Issue 3: Various parts installed, new front bumper bar, 280zx rear calipers as the maxima's were leaking.

 

Issue 4: Had the bottom quarter of the car repainted as i noticed certain uneveness to the paint. Some sections i could see primer. We ended up also masking the angles and stone guarding the bottom properly. Another issue linked to issue 1, where the restorer failed to do a proper job.

 

Which comes to the phrase "I'll treat the car like as if it was mine" which was quoted to me. Yea right... your car must have been sh*&house if this was the quality you did on my car.

 

Whats next?

 

Plan is to get the seats reupholstered. Followed closely by a roadworthy and registration. Hopefully before the year is out.

 

 

[benny]

will you be at the BBQ??

[reverendzed]

Well done Fu!!, your perseverance will pay off, I'm so glad that the experience has become more positive since your last encounter.  Look forward to seeing it all finished.

Rev.

[fufu]

will you be at the BBQ??

 

Only if the car is ready. I feel ashamed how long the car has taken to appear without it. LOL 

 

 

[lightmaster240z]

If the car not ready come  any way,no Z no prob

regrads

Bruce 

[aidannn]

good to see this car progressing.

 

its slowly giving me motivation to get off my ass and work on mine.

 

what sort of suspension mods are you looking at getting?

[fufu]

good to see this car progressing.

 

its slowly giving me motivation to get off my ass and work on mine.

 

what sort of suspension mods are you looking at getting?

 

ah~ i guess my journal is doing its purpose. The whole reason i document my project is to inspire others to work on their projects. 

 

I'm looking at otomoto suspension. Currently the car stance is sitting quite nicely after the springs have settled from getting down from the hoist.

But this poses other issues such as my r200 and my rear swaybar sitting in the study room. So I'd most likely just collect parts for a big upgrade in the future.

 

I'll have to draw up a plan soon, for upgrades, as I've got quite a few parts stored in the study room and more parts comming.

 

 

 

[fufu]

Hi guys,

 

having a bit of trouble with the brakes and require your expertise.

 

I've just completed the S1 280zx rear disk converison.

After bleeding the system it doesn't seem to be getting any pressure in the rear.  How bad? the handbrake is tightened to max thread and it still doesn't engage.

 

Some background info... calipers were rebuilt 2 days ago. Bleeding order... master cylinder, rear left, rear right, front left front right. Done this atleast 3 times. Even banged the master cylinder with a mallet in the hopes that air bubbles would be dislodged. Bled with the engine on ofcourse. No bubbles whatsoever from all bleeidng points.

 

I've tightened the brake lines and bleeders.  Also tightened the vaccuum lines. Vaccuum lines seem to work as when i remove the hose after the one way valve there is a "WHOOSH" sound. So it seems to be holding pressure from the vaccuum lines.

 

Front calipers locks up when brake is engaged. Just can't seem to get the rears activated.

 

Your guidance will be most appreciated.

[RB30X]

Bled with the engine on ofcourse.

 

Why??

 

Have you possibly damaged your master cylinder by pushing it through a longer stroke than normal during the bleeding process, wrecking a seal??

 

And handbrake operation would be unrelated to fluid issues wouldn't it?

 

Does your handbrake cable compress the lever on the calipers?

 

And just to confirm, when you stand on the pedal, you're getting fluid at each of the rear calipers just not any pressure once the nut is done back up.

 

[fufu]

Why??

 

Have you possibly damaged your master cylinder by pushing it through a longer stroke than normal during the bleeding process, wrecking a seal??

 

And handbrake operation would be unrelated to fluid issues wouldn't it?

 

Does your handbrake cable compress the lever on the calipers?

 

And just to confirm, when you stand on the pedal, you're getting fluid at each of the rear calipers just not any pressure once the nut is done back up.

 

I did a search on bleeding brakes for a 240z and i found that it was recommended to bleed the 240z with the car on.

 

Handbrake does compress, however very minor. I have to pull the handbrake all the way up and past the last click to even remotely get any form of emergency braking.

 

The master cylinder is new and prior to swapping it out to the 280zx calipers i did have the 96 maxima calipers in there and that worked quite well, until the maxima calipers started leaking that is.

 

Difference in bleeding front and rear is quite night and day however. Front when bled, the pedal would fall straight to the floor. However bleeding the rear... would move very minor and at a slow pace in comparison to the front. I rarely hit the floor when bleeding the rear? could this be related?

 

fluid does come out however. No bubbles what so ever.

 

When the car is off, it feels like the brake is working fine. The moment the car is switched on... the pedal drops half way.

 

My thoughts (amateur mechanics thoughts):

If i had to give my thoughts on it, I would say that the rear caliper pistons don't seem to be keeping their positions. Rear calipers being a winding piston type, isn't it meant to somewhat keep its position as opposed to the fronts which are floating and should move freely back and forth?

The rears are acting like front floating pistons at this point.

 

If I could somehow correct this issue, most likely the handbrake would be fixed as well.

[Huw]

Sounds dumb.....are your calipers and the bleed nipples facing the right way? (Initially configuration when I did mine at 18 meant that I had to take rears off to bleed! cause the nipple was facing down (?)...)

 

On the Handbrake issue, with a lot of the conversions you end up with a dud handbrake unless:

1) pay attention to how cable runs

2) extent either the threaded section (the adjustable part of the handbrake) or the inner part of the lever itself (which is how the Japanese guide does it).

 

Probably not much help but...

[Zedman240®]

I'd disconnect the rear brake lines and depress the pedal (slowly) and make sure plenty of fluid comes out with no restriction. Just make sure the reservoir doesn't run out of fluid. Could it be rear prop valve?

[fufu]

First off,

 

I'd like to thank all of you for your contributions to the current brake issue.

 

I just had a ponder as to why the rears would fail. Turns out I had the steel rear lines changed to braided lines. In order to fit those braided lines the connecting fluid bolt had to be shortened. I dont think it was shortened enough therefore sealing the inner fluid hole..... sort of like this   

 

(original setup would look like this)  ==>>===== (connecting fluid bolt and steel line)

 

(inner caliper fluid hole) ==>|==== (connecting fluid bolt and braided line).

 

Thus resulting in the rears having no pressure and ultimately not bleeding properly and therefore not being able to utilise the hand brake.

 

I'll test my theory today and get back to you all.

 

Once again thank you very much for all your contributions.

[fufu]

Good news~!

 

My suspicions were correct.

 

The banjo bolt was not shortened enough. Therefore sealing the inner fluid hole as well as not allowing proper sealing from the copper washers around the banjo bolt. This in turn created huge pressure where the bolt was which didn't get past through to the brake hose.

 

Ended up replacing both banjo bolts with new ones and shortening them. Works perfectly now.

 

The handbrake cable was actually my stupidity. We were sliding the clip onto the big groove rather then the original groove. So we swapped the clip over to the original groove and now the handbrake works.

 

Got my first chance to drive this car on the open roads today. It has given me motivation to continue finishing her off.

 

I've scheduled an alarm fitter to come around and install an alarm and central locking kit tomorrow. I've also removed the seats to get them reupholstered.

 

An issue I've found recently is... the right indicator no longer works. Hazard switch does activate the right indicator. So I'm guessing it's the indicator switch stalk. May have to look into getting it refurbished. Does anyone have any contacts for this?

 

P.S. I also found my outter tie rod ends not tightened. Seriously... someone is trying to kill me.

 

Here are some photos after it had a nice wash and wax.

 

 

 

 

[Zedman240®]

Good to hear progress is being made Fu, with the indicator, try and give it a extra bit of oomph when you activate it and see if that makes it work. Thats what happens with my indicator stalk also. The switch can be dissasembled and contacts cleaned...bit of a PITA though.

[RB30X]

Mate, that car is saweeeet.

 

Congrats on one fine looking ride.

 

Love the flares, love the rims, love the colour, love the mirrors......I could go on and on.

[fufu]

Sounds dumb.....are your calipers and the bleed nipples facing the right way? (Initially configuration when I did mine at 18 meant that I had to take rears off to bleed! cause the nipple was facing down (?)...)

 

On the Handbrake issue, with a lot of the conversions you end up with a dud handbrake unless:

1) pay attention to how cable runs

2) extent either the threaded section (the adjustable part of the handbrake) or the inner part of the lever itself (which is how the Japanese guide does it).

 

Probably not much help but...

 

Looks like I've got a dud handbrake cable. I believe the handbrake cable was stretched when it was forced to fit into the maxima calipers. Now with the 280zx calipers there is just too much slack. As such I'll most likely need a replacement.

 

It barely holds on a slope. Holds fine. But then with a little push the car rolls down the slope. This is with the adjustment all the way to the end.

 

There is a company only 30 minutes drive who can replicate these handbrake cables at a small cost of $140. I'll most likely get one replicated but with maybe a 2cm shortening to make up for the slack.

 

A smartarse option my brother told me to do was to pull the handbrake adjustment rod out and extend the tread to allow for further adjustments. Which in theory should work but it is a 30 yro cable and would be better suited being replaced.

[lightmaster240z]

I lov the look and cant wait to see it in the flesh.  Please PM with the detail of the cable guy I need to do mine in the near future. 

Regrads

Bruce 

[Huw]

re your indicator....

I tried to refurbish mine.....was basically a waste of time.

Try AllZParts in Sydney for a new one (which if I remember correctly was what I did), if the bushes are gone (rather than it being a contact issue) it will just pop up again and annoy the ...... out of you.

 

P.s. like the colour....reminds me that mine due for a cut & polish!

 

Huw

[aidannn]

any updates fu?

[fufu]

any updates fu?

 

Greetings AusZcar crew,

 

Yes, I've been absent for quite sometime now. Unfortunately this update will be quick and brief and will not contain any photos or videos.

 

The last few months have been quite slow. At the moment the 240Z is at the engineers getting certification. It has been there since early December.

 

Items that have been spotted.

 

- No rear mudguards as rear tires are exposed higher then 50% mark.

- rear braided line is kinked, from my stupidity in dropping the caliper whilst the lines were still connected.

- brake system still has air in them. Giving a slight spongey feel.

- accelerator cable is touching the steering rod.

- exhaust system has holes everywhere.

- handbrake cable leading to each caliper needs to be secured properly.

 

The above list needs to be fixed prior to getting its engineering certification.

The engineers have been commissioned to remedy as many points as possible. Leaving pretty much the exhaust system in my hands.

 

Reason its taken so long. Christmas break knocked off December through to mid-January. The engineer whose in charge of my car has been on holiday since January til about last week.

They have quite a few cars to get through.

 

- A fully modified Lotus Elise imported from Thailand.

- Ford Mustang Eleanor replica which arrived from the states.

- followed by my 240Z, in 3rd place.

 

Hopefully I'll have some more news shortly.

 

Short term plans. Looking into getting my extractors modified and fitted (Why not? considering I'm getting an exhaust made up for it) and a custom exhaust made and fitted by Highpoint Mufflers.

Followed by engineering certification, RWC and registration.  yes that end part sounds like a broken record.

 

[KatoKid]

Which engineers are you using  Fu?

[fufu]

Which engineers are you using  Fu?

 

The engineer is Laurie Sparke, from Sparke Engineering. They are located in East Keilor.

 

[fufu]

Greetings fellow zed maniacs. 

 

It's time for another update.

 

So lately there has not been many updates as my zed is mostly going through certifications and fixing minor things.

 

A basic sum up.

- Failed to attain RWC in December 2010 as it required engineers certificate for rear brake conversion.

- Delivered vehicle to engineers for certification in mid 2010.

- Engineers pointed out a list of about 8 items that needed attention.

- Engineers willing to do 6/8 of the items on that list.

- Engineers goes on Christmas/New Years break

- Engineers reopen in Mid-January

- Engineer assigned to my car took a spontaneous trip overseas.

- Went to see them at the end of February found out they lost my contact details.

- Got a call from Engineer to get exhaust system replaced.

- Took the car to Highpoint Mufflers and had the exhaust redone. Had the new extractors installed as well. Also had them tackle a few items on that (Engineer fix-it) list. Including brake issue.

- Radiator started to leak - hot water being sprayed on fan = fan warped which then did some more damage to the radiator.  Special thanks to Sirpent for the fan.

- All repaired and handed back to the engineers.

- Called the Engineers up 6th April for a status. They were waiting on new seatbelts to be delivered and installed. Should be sometime today, Friday 8th April.

 

Project plan over the next 2 weeks (11th April -> 22nd April).

 

Tuesday 12th April - Giving the engineers a safe time to complete their final task. I will be collecting the vehicle. The vehicle will be dropped off at a nearby suspension place to replace the outer tie rod ends and to do a wheel alignment.

 

Replacing the outer tie rod ends because I notice the boots were gone and would be required to be replaced anyway but the most important reason was both outer tie rod ends don't seem to match. Different batches. I felt a unified pair would be best choice to eliminate any further issues down the track.

 

I should have done an alignment early on. However my logic was, it was somewhat driving straight and I left it the way it was. What an idiot, I am,  for thinking this. After installing the 16" Watanabes, I found that the passenger side cleared fine but the driver side was scrubbing slightly. On stationary it had about 5mm clearance. However rolling nature was different to stationary nature. As a result... I ended up... cracking the paint on the drivers side.  :'(

 

Not even registered and already has battle scars.

 

So hopefully the suspension place can do something about it.

 

Moving along on the schedule.

 

Wednesday 13th April - Roadworthy has been booked. This time it should pass with flying colours. It did pass last time but they wouldn't give me the RWC because of the absent engineers certificate.

 

Friday 15th - Monday 18th April - I fly out to Sydney for some personal matters and will be back Monday evening.

 

Tuesday 19th April - Vicroads inspection and registration appointment scheduled for 8:30AM.

 

If everything goes according to plan. Stage 1 of this project will finally come to an end. Which leads me to Stage 2. Stage 2: Modification has no end date.