Tim's White 71' 240Z aka 570Z

[Brabham]

Hmmm interesting. Thanks Tim. I don't know many Manual boxes that can hold over 700HP for street/circuit. Would be interesting to compare Tremec vs Holinger vs Getrag for those with TT kits. I wonder what the RB30/26 DETT guys do once they start killing RB25DET boxes. Cheers. 

[luvemfast]

Hmmm interesting. Thanks Tim. I don't know many Manual boxes that can hold over 700HP for street/circuit. Would be interesting to compare Tremec vs Holinger vs Getrag for those with TT kits. I wonder what the RB30/26 DETT guys do once they start killing RB25DET boxes. Cheers.

Hollinger are starting to make some of there older gearboxes again, so worth keeping in mind.

Pretty hard to beat there quality.

 

[RB30X]

I've been preping my bonnet over the weekend with some advice from the Rev. Finally applied the paint today and it came out really good. Glossy straight off the gun. Some slight orange peel but its a million times better than the old paint job. Plan on preping the front guards soon after I roll the lips and then paint them as well. Then the rest of the body.

 

 

 

 

[chev z]

G'day Tim , We were up in Towns. in the last week of July visiting my son Rich [electrician] I wish we had caught up. I thought you lived in NSW .

I have also gone down the LS1 path,picked up a eng. and 6 speed for $3500, my car will only be used on the track.It developes 250.4 rwkw with a slightly better cam installed.

Just spent last weekend welding in a roll cage, still have about 30% to go .

My 240 basically has the same engine and trans. but the previous wishful thinking "gunna one day" decided to install a silvia S13 rear suspension and diff.  It's a pity his so called fully engineered rear end was out by 40mm so I have re-engineered it , hopefully correctly, but I suppose only track time will tell .

Used the autometer guages , they fit great and look brilliant,Tis a pity my dash doesn't look as good as yours.

I aquired of Ben some 9.5x17 inch wheels for traction and looks, but am still waiting for the flared guards from USA

before they can fit on the wider S13 rear.I put 25mm wheel spacers on the front to align [roughly] the front to back.

Still have a fair bit to do ,cutting guards ,moulding fiberglass rears onto car,painting etc

 

What brand of seats are in your Z

 

Keepup the good work , also keep the photos coming I lost most of mine with a computer crash

....Steve

 

 

[RB30X]

G'day Steve, I was on annual leave in July so had heaps of time to sit around talking about cars, you should've called in for a drink.

I'd like to see some pics of your ride to at some stage. You should start a build thread. I'm not sure what brand the seats are but they needed a mod plate for installation, they'll have to be retrimmed too as they're faded pretty bad.

I was going to get those rims/flares as well but I'm kind of thinking the rims won't look as good on a white car. Leaning towards the bronze Rota Grids but they only come in a 16 x 8, where as I think a 17 x 8 would look better.

 

[chev z]

the flared guards that I'm in the process of importing are IMSA from Brian Kostrba , you can check out the flare types at www.zccjdm.com

Mine are the wide raer fender flares and the IMSA -front fenders.

Thinking of  taking a mould in case of breakage when racing

 

Tim , do they do hillclimbs up Mount Stuart, that sure is one great drive.Tremendous view as well.

[RB30X]

Yeah the local club holds motakhana's very regularly but I won't be taking my zed on the mountain. I will take it on the local go kart track but probably won't get out of third gear.

Here is a clip of my mate losing it on the hillclimb in his big $$$ GTR:

 

[RB30X]

I took the oppertunity yesterday to 'drop it on it's guts' so to speak to see what sort of clearance the exhaust had at a nice ride height. The answer is nil.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[peter t]

Don't take it shopping to Kmart . Be a good show on Guy Fawkes night. Think you

might have to rethink those pipes Tim.

 

 

 

[RB30X]

I put the newly painted front guards, bonnet, front spoiler, battery inspection flaps and front valance on yesterday, and I must admit I'm not completely happy. Firstly I didn't use a clear coat after being talked out of it by the paint shop guys. They said it would be right with a cut and polish and thats all. I was there to by clear and they talked me out of it. I cut and polished as suggested but I think the finish now is either the same if not less glossy than the 'off the gun' finish :'(

 

Secondly, I don't exactly know what I was expecting after looking a million photos of all white zeds but now I think its too white? Maybe this is a denial stage that I will get through.

 

Also, when re-installing the LH headlamp someone accidently dropped it onto the concrete while I wasn't watching and it smashed into a million tiny pieces. I thought, no worries I've got a million 280zx headlamps there I'll throw one of those in cause they're the same.  No they're not.  They are flat where as the 240Z ones have more of a dome shape. Without even looking yet, are these sealed beams available anywhere? 280zx headlamp installed in LH position in pics below.

 

 

[Roberto]

Did the paint shop ask what finish you were after??

 

Yes, you don't need clear, but if you want a really high gloss finish, then you will need it, especially on lighter coloured cars.

 

I think it looks great in white.  Nice, sharp and clean.....

[Scoota G]

Should still be able to get them lights i would think. I still have my old ones sitting in the garage. I replaced them with H4's.

[reverendzed]

Tim, depending on what 'cut' you used and how you applied it and what color foam pad you used, you can end up without much gloss.  Make sure you keep your pad wet and when you polish (machine polish) make sure you let the cut do it's job.  Youtube has some good vids on it.  Then you need to change pads (probably go to black and then use a 'swirl remover' you should end up with a 'mirror' finish.

Rev.

[RB30X]

 

I bolted everything up properly today and it fits lovely.

 

I also have a confession to make. Someone called round my house with a car exactly the same as mine in everyway except his car was registered and mine isn't. So I decided to take this 'other' 240z for a drive to see how it went, now that it had oil pressure and water temp gauges all working. This required the suspension to be raised a bit since the last time he drove it out of his shed as it was way too low. So I put on my driving hat and as soon as I took off down the street it appeared it was running on a lot less than 8 cylinders which didn't surprise me as the plug leads had come on and off a few times and they are prone to disintergrating, and the plugs have never been changed (from what he tells me ). 'We' did do some initial fault finding with a temp gun on the headers to see which cylinder wasn't firing but they were all hot at idle as the miss wasn't apparent until it was under load. So I drive off in this V6 and three quarters, and damn this thing still has some balls. I was under the impression that it had 3.? something gears in the R200 but I was changing gears a lot more often than my clubsport and it had 3.73's. Anyway it accelerates well, handles well, brakes well (after the paint was rubbed off the rotors) and it sounds nice.

I did learn a few things however.

First being the accelerator pedal position in comparison with the brake and clutch pedal. With the chair in the correct position to operate both the later, my leg is too cramped or too bent to operate the throttle, resulting in sore feet muscles. If I was to move the chair back so my right leg is comfortable, I'm too far away from the brake and clutch pedal.

Secondly, an issue prone to LS1's is the belt tensioner operation. When I swapped to an underdrive pulley on my previous LS1 the new belt length was shorter but the tensioner wasn't in the exact preloaded position it normally operates in. Hence it threw a few belts. The other reason could be the balancer has come off at some stage and hasn't gone back on completley in line. The issue is when you stab it and the crank balancer accelerates the belt speed so quickly over the other pulleys, the tensioner takes up the slack. Except, when it compresses it becomes somewhat out of alignment and allows a belt rib or two to jump off the pulley. Now I did give it a big stab on the last stretch to my house, and as I was putting into my back yard it started getting hot so I kind of knew where the belt would be, so a quick drive back in one of my registered cars and I picked it up.

Here is a good clip to show how the tensioner moves around:

 

Magnuson 122 Supercharger produces 759 ft/lbs and

 

So its a new custom sized belt for me, as well as plugs and if that doesn't help, new leads. I'm hesitant to get new leads as Peter and I are cooking up a coil relocation mod which would require longer plug leads anyway.

 

In regards to the paint, I sanded the painted surface with 2000 grit foams pads which were wet. On the bigger surfaces I used a machine but the light surrounds and spoiler were done by hand. Then after drying that off I used kitten or some type of car polish, not a cut and polish, just polish. Is this right?

 

cheers

[peter t]

Hey Tim, welcome to the wonderfull world of painting whether it be straight colour or metalic. It sure is a black art. No pun intended Rev.

[RB30X]

Well today the Zed called for me to become an Auto Electrician as I had reached 'fix healights' on my 'things to do before rwc' list. They have never worked although the rears do, the dash does and the front indicator park lights do as well. It was a tricky one as I had not long ago tied back all the wiring under the dash. It ended up being a hairline crack in the solder at the back of the indicator/high beam switching mechanism. So I'm pretty stoked as I can tick another one off my list.

I also bought some small lights from Jaycar to make some indicator and high beam indication lights. I hope to make it look something similar to the pic below.

 

 

I've replace the spark plugs and my engine has 8 cylinders again. Still spitting belts though even though I spaced the tensioner out by a few mm's to line up with the rest of the pulleys. Maybe my laser level (eye) needs calibrating. I ordered a billet Corvette C6 pulley from the states which has higher wall on the pulley itself so if that doesn't work, I might buy an adjustable tensioner that stays solid once adjusted just like most other engines have.

 

This is what happens on the road when you stab it.

 

 

[RB30X]

Well I've solved the problem of the belt tensioner. After analysing the video it occured to me that the tensioner was running out of tension. It wasn't under enough static tension when the belt length was chosen by the PO, and was 'bottoming out' (for lack of a better word) letting the belt get slack under higher loads. This was solved by altering the angle of the tensioner using a small spacer. My billet pulley also arrive from the states, but that is just cream now as the actual issue has been solved.

 

 

 

 

You can see the larger gap now between the two tabs on the pivot point.

 

 

I took it for a drive again and I still have a smile from ear to ear. You literally have to hold onto the wheel with both hands if you are going to use anything other than quarter throttle. The torque is effortless. I gave it a little stab from standstill through 1st, 2nd and 3rd and the little chasis handles the floating rear end very well, point and shoot type handling.

 

My brother is making me a little timber housing for my indicator bulbs which I have completed the wiring harness for. Should look very similar to the pic but with LED's in a chrome bezzel, rather than a coloured lense.

 

I can't wait to get this thing on the road.

 

 

[PeterAllen]

Gee... an S30/LSx that actually goes... I am envious.

 

I'm curious as to what you are running with that belt and whether it is the original GM belt. With the dollar so good I've bought a 98-02 Firebird/Camaro alternator which is sufficiently different to the Holden one that it should rectify a John's Cars Inc (JCI) engine mount clearance problem. I have also purchased a Sanden 508 a/c compressor and JCI mount for it. The information I have is that replacing the power steering pump with the a/c compressor I should still be able to run the original GM belt. My concern is that the Firebird/Camaro alternator might be closer to the block (but hopefully it's just a casing issue) and I might end up with the Holden belt being a little oversize - just as yours appears to be. The good news is you have given me a quick and ready fix.

[RB30X]

I am running a custom sized belt obvioulsy because I don't have any a/c or power steering, just alternator and water pump. Once you fit your new parts, just run a tape measure around where the belt will go, take off 20-30mm for the tensioner tension., d go into repco or where ever and tell them you want a 6PK that is ****mm long. They should be able to get you something close that is an existing belt size.

[Veloce]

Running a peice of string around the pulleys and measuring it after works well too 

[RB30X]

I have prepped and primer’d the rest of my car for painting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a bit of a play with some spare inspection covers too. Modified to help get the heat out of the engine bay.

 

 

I built a bracket for the relocation of my coil packs. I have to get some custom length plug leads and extend the coil loom as well, this is not on my RWC to do list however.

 

 

 

I also found a spare pair of LS1 cylinder heads for the right price, that I might have a play with one day when this thing is on the road. I don’t know why, but there is always something in our blood that makes us want to go faster. A nice lumpy cam and some raised compression would top this build off I reckon. Also not on my to do list.

 

 

 

[FLEXZED]

Hey Tim

 

looking really good, you should be proud of yourself and the work you have done

 

Loui

 

[Riceburner]

Looking awesome Tim, just saw the inspection lids and I must say you have great taste. The exhaust cutouts in the rear have worked out very nice indeed. Did you do the vents yourself?

[RB30X]

Yes they were welded in on some spare covers I had. My bro finished off my indicator / high beam bulb housing from some nice wood, only to have me spray satin black all over it. Haven't fitted it yet. My car is still taped up in my shed getting the primer smoothed off. Its been raining up here lately so I don't think I'll get to paint it on these days off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made up an LS1 specific twin valve spring compressor recently, to remove the springs and valves from those spare heads. I've dug up a mountain of info on porting these heads, the oil pump and even the plastic intake manifolds, so that will no doubt happen one day. Get them shaved as well to up compression, buy a 'medium' sized cam and upgrade the valve train. Damn this high Aussie dollar rubbing my face in cheap LS1 performance parts. Stick to the plan boy, get this car painted and roadworthy first.

 

[RB30X]

Well I'm almost there. I have to admit I'm not the best spray painter in the world but I had a crack. The first panels came out well but the rear of the car suffered from orange peel. I think it may have had something to do with the temperature here being a lot hotter than when I painted the front guards a few months ago. I really wanted to get this finished as it's getting humid again and once it start raining it will probably stop around April. The first photos are me trying to catch the finish.

 

 

 

 

 

Then today I gave the car a wet sand with 2000-4000 foam pads to 'reduce' the orange peel. I drove it onto the driveway to hose off the residue from sanding. So if these photos don't look glossy thats because it currently a matt white after the wet sand and I am yet to attempt any polishing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may notice the bonnet with the scoop is back on. There was a reason that other bonnet I had was originally covered in a quarter inch of bog. It had ripples in it every where, which of course were only visible when you spray it white. So the original scooped bonnet is back on, which I don't hate as much as when I first bought the car. 

 

 

 

My other news is my first RWC inspection went well. Kind of wasn't ready for the bloke (halfway through painting) but he got the idea and I confirmed the list I had of things to complete. I also found a local club to join for club rego, which also has a few Zed's tucked away so it will be good to catch up with them once this bad boy is on the road.