What Did You Do On Your Z Today?

[gilltech]

Tidy job. Nice looking car, what I can see of it, big rear flares; same colour as mine - 110?

The factory trims are stainless steel. To remove them just slice away the retention ribs in the windscreen rubber, as it is to be replaced anyway, and separate the trims with a blade being careful not to bend them upwards in the process.

When I installed new windscreen rubbers I installed the SS trims last, I don't know how you'd install them earlier, too much risk of bending them. It's just installing the corner pieces that is very fiddly. I used some black silicone sealant/adhesive and taped them down in place until the sealant had cured.

[Retro Z]

20 hours ago, gav240z said:

I understand why you did it and it looks great.

But for a purist it just won't do for me! haha.

However with a screen already installed, it would be a massive pain to have to remove it, install the trim and then the screen again.

I'm still not sure how to remove the old trims without damaging them!

My car is far from pure. You'd probably have a stroke if you see my car Gav. But i do have another 240z that i plan to return to original. Best of both worlds i guess.

[AndBir]

Sprayed "Lizard Skin" sound deadener on the underside of the 260z yesterday and followed it up with two coats of the lizard skin thermal coating. Myself and the carport area ended up peppered with overspray as it could only be done outside and there was some wind now and then.

[Linton]

this week I fitted one of Justins electric power steering kits and must say it is a  fine piece of work,  well done Justin

[ScottyD]

Well back in July last year my oil pump died which forced me to do a rebuild.

After discussions with the original builder of my Zed Mr. Steven Davis, he offered to rebuild my engine for Nil $ yes no labour costs which let me spend a bit more on parts ( 3.2 spool stroker crank ouch )

So to date.

Spool 3.2 Stroker Crank,   91mm stroke

Rb26 Forged Ross pistons 86.5mm machined down to produce 10.9=1 ratio

ARP bolts throughout.

New oil pump, water pump, timing belt etc.

Redesign of the oil flow from sump to pump

New Exedy heavy duty clutch

Exsisting, RB25DE VVT Head ported and polished, Tomei pon cams 256

Standard Rb25 exhaust manifold 2.5 inch pipe

Had it tuned December last year with average results, power dropped of at around 5200rpm, struggling to breath.

Today I pick up my Zed after having some extractors and exhaust fabricated then a retune with my old Kalmaker engine management with an increase of 20%kw and 16% torque.

Sounds great and pulls hard from go to a bit over 6000rpm

Now I need to choose between rb26 throttle bodies or a ffp with larger throttle body to get the most out of it,  oh and maybe  another ecu.

161kw and 403nm,  Dyno sheet compares New exhaust in red and old in blue.

All parts, fabrication and tuning has just nudged into the double figures $. 

 

[gav240z]

57 minutes ago, ScottyD said:

After discussions with the original builder of my Zed Mr. Steven Davis, he offered to rebuild my engine for Nil $ yes no labour costs which let me spend a bit more on parts ( 3.2 spool stroker crank ouch )

 

Wow, that's very kind of him. Didn't you buy this car off him more than 10 years ago?

57 minutes ago, ScottyD said:

Now I need to choose between rb26 throttle bodies or a ffp with larger throttle body to get the most out of it,  oh and maybe  another ecu.

Should be able to find Rb26 throttle bodies relatively cheaply, lots of people remove them for modern drive by wire set up etc.. forward facing plenums are also quite common, but i'd invest in genuine "Greddy" ones, not the "Freddy" ones. :).

I really dislike the cross over intake on the RB25s.

[ScottyD]

No Gav I bought it off John from Melbourne zedls1 abit over 3 years ago.

Yeah throttle bodies would be the best but I would consider a top half Plazmaman ffp with say 100mm throttle body ?

I’m also not a fan of the cross over intake especially over some very hot extractors.

Edited August 29, 2019 by ScottyD

[MikeZ]

I reckon this thread needs a fire up! I'm sure lots of people have a bit more spare time of their hands. 

I've been installing an Innovate wideband afr gauge and an sii-4 unit which accepts 4 inputs. I've got it logging afr, rpm and tps on the triple Webers, with a knock sensor on the way. 

This is all with the plan to road tune the Webers on the new motor coming soon.

I've found the Innovate products to be pretty easy to install and configure so far.

A couple of screenshots from a video:

 

[Enzo]

Today was a good day to get in the garage. I rebuilt a D609-56A distributor and installed a Hotspark ignition module with the recommended Beru Blue coil. This is a Hall effect module similar to Pertronic. With this system I can remove the ballast resistor. I only have to finish the wiring tomorrow and set the timing. This will replace the Crane XR700 that I had set up on another distributor. I have recently installed the 240z 3 screw twin carbs after giving them a good clean. So if all is good I may refit the front body panels and get it out on the street over the next couple of weeks. 

David.

[gav240z]

Should change this thread title to, "What have you done to your Z since Covid-19 Lockdown?"

I disassembled an AM radio a while ago that was damaged in transit (seller only put it in a cardboard box and the chassis took a good hard beating on the way over from Europe). Whipped the PCB off a corner. Which I repaired.

To remove the chassis from the circuit board you have to de-solder a few points (sadly). Which makes this tricky and time consuming..

Video of it working here.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VonPvkZ95MR1McA46

I still need to find the RF Choke which goes in the fuse holder, order a new fuse holder assembly and OEM plug (http://www.vintageconnections.com/Products/Detail/66) and re-apply the model sticker/decal.

Greg Hassen I believe made reproduction labels here.

https://www.classiczcars.com/forums/topic/53334-wtb-hitachi-radio/?do=findComment&comment=502985

Condition of radio before.

After...

If there is interest in creating a step by step guide on how to disassemble these and re-assemble let me know? I have more radios to restore...

[gav240z]

I had nearly finished this steering wheel a couple of years ago and it's been sitting collecting dust. Until I got the hardware back and installed it and WOW, it just adds a new level to the restoration! Especially considering how poor the wheel looked before.

I got this wheel cheap off a friend in San Francisco (think it was $100 USD). And I put about $300 USD worth of effort into restoring it. :). This is for #51 when the time comes.

[gav240z]

This has been a multi-day effort, sorting through fasteners etc.. was the first step, which allowed me to finish the radio and the fuel pump and begin the rebuild on the Mikuni/Solex carbs and of course find the hardware for the steering wheel.

Sorting through replated bolts is not fun. I can thank Covid-19 for giving me idle time...

Nikki Fuel Pump is now rebuilt.

Mikuni/Solex carbs and associated parts are much better sorted now. I bought half of them in bits and with spares etc. so half of what I'm doing is sorting through what I do and don't have. Even that is a pain. With half my jets floating around in plastic bags. I have a few gasket kits but it turns out they are for the 5 screw lid, not 4 screw. There is likely a few hundred dollars of parts to order but since I'm not working I'm trying not to spend money on non-essentials at this point. So just doing things that have 0 cost. I'll order gaskets and jets and parts missing once the economy looks better and I've got some work again.

I've also been messing with the Antenna for the radio, putting power to the unit I can hear the motor, but the antenna mask doesn't extend, no idea why yet. It seems fused. Like corrosion is stopping it move.

[gilltech]

Today - stuck at home due to Covid-19 'stay home' lock down so trying to keep myself busy - I tried to remove the scruffy LH external door handle in order to replace it with a much tidier one. No joy, I couldn't manage to disconnect it from the connecting rod. Is it supposed to just unclip at the top? I don't want to force it and risk breaking any nylon fittings either end. Is there a trick to this? TIA.

Following that task I want to pull the lock mechanism out to clean it as it's not locking either by key or pull knob, so either some internal problem, or it may be it's just gummed up with decades-old and congealed rust proofer, as it used to work. Not a fun job.

Edited April 20, 2020 by gilltech

[MikeZ]

It should just pop off with a little force, I've managed to do the driver's side by removing the glass and the passenger side without removing the glass (tight!). 

[gilltech]

Quote

It should just pop off with a little force

Aha thanks. Obviously am being too gentle, more brute force required! I didn't want to wreck the nylon retainer as my spare doesn't have one.

[MikeZ]

I've got some spares still on my old original handles, the handles themselves are stuffed so if you get stuck I can send you the nylon part. 

[gilltech]

Thanks Mike260, I'll bear that in mind, thought much appreciated! I'll see how I go.

All good now thanks Mike. With the window still in there's very limited access into that blind top corner. But, finally, after a good deal of cussing and what seemed like an OTT amount of applied force the rod suddenly came free, and the nylon keeper looks none the worse. Replacement handle is on, looks much better, as the chrome on the old one had bubbled.

I made sure I wore gloves too as lots of sharp edges, have learnt the hard way previously when working inside doors.

Next job is to remove the lock mechanism itself.....

Looks like the rear window guide will have to come out first before the lock mechanism can be removed, just so I can examine it to see why it no longer locks. Neither the outside key nor the inner pull knob will operate the locking, so I must assume the problem is in the mechanism itself. Another fun job, not, best saved for another day.

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by gilltech

[Kuba]

Created a little abomination by sticking together ebay special retro style radio and original hitachi fascia, few finishing touches and it'll be only distinguishable by the little buttons instead of traditional ones.

If there's any anyone on the forum with 3d printer the fascia could be easily printed and you have a good alternative to retro-sounds without breaking the bank! 

[gilltech]

Nice job!

[Enzo]

Well I finally got the MSD 6AL fitted on the weekend. I also removed and sorted out a sticky choke tube on the front SU carb. Now that I have a Hall Effect dizzy and the MSD ignition I can say the car starts easier and idles much better and sounds crisper. I haven't had it out on the road yet, but soon. Getting a bit crowded under the bonnet now.

[gav240z]

I finally replaced the oil feed tube for the camshaft in my 71 240z.

I was originally going to use the 1 out of the engine that was in HS30 00150, but as you can see it was quite bent! I have no idea how that would have happened, perhaps done deliberately to put more oil over the camshaft rockers (is my guess?). But it meant the plate that goes over the back of it wouldn't sit flush and there was all manner of gasket goo in between them and I wasn't confident it was a good idea to install it.

So instead I got the 1 sitting in the E31 head from HS30 00051 instead.

Here you can see the missing part on the L24 in my white 71 (HS30 01415).

NB: It has bolts holding it on (instead of countersunk screws?), I get the impression this 1 was messed around with previously also. Unless Nissan changed the design at some point?

Left is the bolts I took off HS30 01415 (white 71) and right is the countersunk screws I removed from HS30 00051's E31 head that held the oiler bar on.

FWIW I went with the bolts when installing the oiler bar since I could apply a bit more torque to them and felt they would hold the oil bar on better.

You can see the cam towers in early heads had a large orifice for the oil gallery, the oiler bar has a tiny orifice. I guess the forced oil into the oiler bar forces it out onto the valve train? (pressure change).

I degreased the oiler bar and removed any contaminants and then used compressed air to make sure all the holes were clear and not blocked up. My guess is HS30 00051's engine last ran 20 years ago..and has sat ever since then.

I do not plan to run the oiler bar on any of my 240z's in future. I'll be converting to the internally oiled camshafts which are a more robust and reliable design.

I ran the car after installing it and noted there is still a little valve train noise, but I am yet to adjust the valve clearances on this engine. The rocker cover gasket I used also seems to leak still. I think it's a poor quality gasket (most likely) so I guess I'll be removing the cover again. Good thing about these cars is everything is so accessible it's not a big deal.

After that I gave both cars a good wash (much needed).

[Enzo]

Hi Gav, The Schneider camshaft that I bought off you a couple of years ago had a oiler bar in the box. It needs a bit of work but you're welcome to have it back as a spare if you like.

David.

[gav240z]

All good David, I will likely convert all of mine to internally oiled cams in future when I rebuild the engines in future.

How did you go with that camshaft, ever end up using it?

[gav240z]

Not strictly an update for my Z's, but I had to move the Gold car in order to get the RX-7 out of mum's garage to install some electrical points and lights, so I'll have tool power in there in future. Sadly the RX-7 failed to start. She blew a coolant seal a few months ago and I last started it late last year and now it just won't quite start. It runs for a second or 2 on 1 rotor then stalls. So I really have to remove the motor sooner rather than later to prevent internal damage from water inside it.

Problem is that the twin turbo's are also shagged and so going single turbo makes 100% sense... but will also cost a small fortune..I really miss driving it now. Especially with the COVID-19 restrictions in place. I'd have a lot of fun driving it on some nearby country roads..

[Dionysus]

I'll add to the 90s goodness.. 

Raised up my r32 suspension because I'm getting too old to deal with a super low car.. 

Raised it an inch and its still low. Now I have to consider whether I want to do it all over again.. 

Apart from that did a heap of maintenance to get it ready for a haltech ecu install.